Reassembly
by Caryce Jade
Summary: AU after year 4. Snape and Harry find out that they are father and son. They have to work to understand each other, build a relationship, and defeat Voldemort.
1. These Dreams

**Obviously, I don't own them, I just like to play with them now and again.**

Another summer had begun. The students had left about a week before. This year had had a bad end, what with the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Voldemort. Nevertheless, life went on, and after having given him a week's space to cope with the news, Dumbledore sought out his potions master. He felt it only fair that he should warn him that it was going to be a _very_ interesting summer for him.

After the usual exchange of pleasantries (or unpleasantries, depending on your perspective), Dumbledore dove into his first order of business. He'd save the real reason he was there for last, slipping it in when he felt that the other man was the most open.

"So, what is Tom up to these days?"

"Planning mostly. Wants to know anything about Potter that might give him the upper hand. Wants to know about the wards on his relatives' home."

"Give me a day or two and I'll have some information for you. If you're summoned before that, tell him that I do not trust you right now."

"Any _particular_ reason?"

"Maybe something to do with me thinking you replaced all my lemon drops with jawbreakers. You know, old-doddering-fool-tantrums."

"Yes."

They spent a few more minutes discussing events before Dumbledore finally remarked, "I know you'll spend most of your time in your lab, my boy, but if something _strange_ comes up, be sure to let me know."

"Of course, Headmaster," was the acidic reply.

Not two nights later, the dreams began….

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_An eighteen-year old Severus, his several-inches-longer hair tied back in a low ponytail, was down on one knee in front of a seventeen-year-old Lily Evans. "Lily, will you do me the honor of being my wife?" At her ecstatic affirmative, he pulled her into his arms, smirking as she squealed in surprise. Then his expression sobered. "We won't be able to marry publicly."_

_"I know. Dumbledore can marry us. James, Sirius, and Remus can witness. I've never cared much for Peter, and the others have distanced themselves from him, so we just won't tell him."_

_"Good. I don't want him to know either."_

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_Blood was pooled on the floor of the secluded seventh-floor classroom and more was dripping from his wrists. Things were getting fuzzy, and the firewhiskey was starting to kick in. That was good. Now maybe he'd be free from the pain and the self-hatred. Even the urgent pounding that had just started on the door did not interest him enough to go open it, even if he could._

_Suddenly, the door burst open and James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily raced in. Lily gave a little cry and rushed over to him, placing his head in her lap while James began to staunch the bleeding. "Oh sweet Merlin, Sev, what have you done?" James said, half to himself. "Sirius, go get Pomfrey or Dumbledore. Preferably Pomfrey if you get to her first. Remus, keep anybody else from coming this way."_

_James then looked him straight in the eyes. "And don't you DARE die on me."_

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_"Severus, I'm pregnant"_

_"What?! Oh Merlin, Lily!" He gave her a cautious hug, almost as though he were afraid of her breaking._

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_"I'm sorry it's come to this. I hope that you don't go without Lily and the baby for very long. Is Dumbledore sure this is the only way?"_

_"Yes." The words were weighed with intense sorrow. It was taking all he had not to cry. As it was, his voice broke responding._

_"I'll do my best by them, you know that. I just hope it's all over before August first so you can maybe see your child being born. If not, I'll take pictures and Lily and I will apply a glamour charm that will start to gradually fade between the ages of eleven and seventeen, unless you lift it sooner. It will just replace any features the child inherits from you with mine."_

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After nearly two weeks of the dreams, he finally sought out the Headmaster.

"First off, Severus, they are not dreams. They're you real memories returning to you. That is why Dreamless Sleep proves ineffective against them."

"So I married Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus became my friends about halfway through sixth year, and…" He went completely white as a new realization hit him. "Oh Merlin. He's my son. Harry's my son."

"Yes, he is."

"What do I do? It's not like he's going to believe me, or even if he did, give me the time of day. If you recall, we are not on the best of terms."

"You underestimate his capacity for understanding and for forgiveness. He's had nowhere near the easy life that some might think." He placed no emphasis on the word "some" so that Severus knew that it was not solely directed at him.

"That still doesn't change the fact that I've treated him like shit for the past four years!"

"No, but you _can_ move forward. Today is his fifteenth birthday. Maybe you and he can turn the page on your past history. Now how about getting the rest of your memories back now so that you can start on that tomorrow?"

He could only nod numbly in response.

Six hours later, he stumbled out of the Headmaster's Office and dragged himself to his quarters. He was going to need time and a stiff drink to process the memories and emotions surging through him.

Upon reaching his quarters, he poured himself a glass of the strongest drink on his shelf.

Pulling a book off the bookshelf, he sat down with the drink and opened the book. "Oh, hell," he said out loud. Out of all the books he had, he had to pull out the diary of the the only woman besides Lily that he'd ever loved. Flipping to a random entry, he began to read.

Minutes later, he put the book down, looking determined. Tomorrow he was going to the Dursleys' to retrieve his son, and then he was going to work to get to know him, and to let Harry get to know him as well.

It was with a much better frame of mind that Severus decided to toss out the drink and get some sleep instead.


	2. Photographs and Memories

**Nope, still don't own them. Darn!**

**A/N:** I always thought Vernon's hatred of Harry was really over-the-top, so made a reason for it.

Harry sat on his bed in Dudley's second bedroom. This had been a pretty shitty summer so far. Today was his fifteenth birthday. Granted, it had only been July 31st for two minutes, but it was still his birthday. What had made the summer so shitty was that Ron and Hermione had barely written to him all summer, Dudlely, who had become an unexpected ally, along with Uncle Vernon, who had always protected him behind his aunt's back, had only been able to drug Petunia twice to make sure that he ate and to catch up with him. They had done it tonight and were due in his room in a few minutes.

Vernon had, after figuring out that his wife was taking out her jealousy and hatred of ther sister on a child that had only had the misfortune of being born to a witch and a wizard, perfected the art of contrived hatred. To put it simply, he acted as though he hated Harry whenever there was a chance of Petunia seeing or hearing. He'd given up hope on Dudley ever freeing himself from his mother's clutches, when, during the Christmas holidays, he and Petunia had went away for the weekend to a conference and Marge had been unavailable, so they'd left him with Mrs. Figg. When they'd returned, Dudley had sought him out, making the excuse of wanting to go out for an ice cream, just the two of them. When they had gotten into the car, Dudley had said he'd had no idea how much Harry had been through and that he wanted to be nicer to him.

Harry was jerked out of his reverie by a flash of light. Fawkes dropped a letter on his bed, then was gone in another flash. Harry reached for the letter and opened it.

_Harry--_

_Birthday greetings to you. I apologize for the fact that Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley have barely written to you this summer. That is my fault, I'm afraid. It is too dangerous to risk putting anything in letters sent by owl of any substance. However, they send their greetings and well-wishes._

_This brings me to my true purpose for writing to you. Within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, you will recieve some interesting and startling news. Take it with good humor and with an open mind. Remember that nothing is black and white. Also, be sure to have your things accessible. You may be leaving unexpectedly._

Harry put the letter aside as the bolts on his door were being undone and Vernon and Dudley stole quietly into the room with a six-pack of sodas in hand. They closed the door behind them and made their way over to him. "Happy Birthday," Dudley whispered.

"Thanks."

They were sitting on the floor talking when suddenly, a box about a foot wide, long, and deep appeared in front of Harry with a letter attatched to the top of it. The letter had Harry's name on it, with the instructions to read it before opening the box.

"Well, what is it?" Vernon asked him.

"One way to find out." With slightly shaking hands, Harry opened the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_This is the first time I've written you, and probably will be the only time. If you are recieving this letter, two things have happened: 1. I am dead, and 2. You have been raised to believe that I am your father. Unfortunately, though I am currently raising you, and watching you teethe on Sirius' wand, I am not your father. I am not even married to your mother. That honor belongs to a man named Severus Snape._

_Now, if the two of you know each other, you both probably hate each other. _(No shit! Harry thought) _That's not his fault or yours. His memory has been modified from our fifth year onward. So he hates me, Sirius, and Remus with a passion, and believes he lost your mother's friendship fifth year._

_Now for the truth. he didn't lose your mother's friendship. She always saw through the facade he'd built around himself, maybe because she knew what he went through outside of school. The incident with Remus and Sirius really did happen, and I really did stop Sev from going through to the Shrieking Shack. Lily, Remus, and I ripped Sirius a new one about that, and he eventually sought Sev out and apologized. Within a couple of months, we had built a tenuous friendship, and Lily and Sev started dating. This didn't mean that all was well, however. Sev had already joined the Death Eaters. His self-loathing was so great that a couple of months into our seventh year, he attempted suicide. Eventually, we were able to convince him that it didn't matter and that we were still his friends, and he began working for Dumbledore._

_Eventually he and your mother married, and you were concieved. It was a secret wedding; Dumbledore married them, and Sirius, Remus, and I were the only witnesses._

_When things in the war grew worse and the prophecy was released, for everyone's safety, Dumbledore modified Sev's memories (with his knowledge and consent), and Lily and I publicly "married" each other. You were born seven months later. We just hoped that it would be temporary. The fact that you are recieving this letter show that it was not. You have glamours on you that will gradually fade between the ages of eleven and seventeen. It merely replaced any of the features you inherited from Sev with mine. (He'll be very happy to know you didn't get his nose.)_

_Now I ask you to get to know Sev. The REAL Sev, not the facade, not the man who you've probably spent any part of your aquaintance hating. If I know him as well as I think I do, he's really torn up inside about all of this, so go easy on him. PLEASE forgive him, and know that he was ecstatic when your mother told him she was pregnant with you (though we had to pick him up off the floor when it finally sank in), and theclosest I've ever seen him to crying was when we discussed the memory modification. Please go forward with him. Remus and Sirius, if they are still around, will be glad to help you in understanding him. We never let Peter in on this, because we had distanced ourselves from him, and Sev and Lily both are not fond of him._

_What's in the box? Several photograph albums. Your parents when they were children, teenagers, dating, etc..., and albums detailing Lily's pregnancy, your birth, and your life up until now, your first birthday. I'd promised that to Sev. Look at all of them, and then give them to him. Be prepared to SHOW him the past doesn't matter, I don't know, give him a hug or something! Anyhow, from here on out, it's up to you._

_ James_

Harry put the letter down, gaping in shock. He handed the letter to Vernon and Dudley, who both read it.

"I knew something was different about the way you'd look each year when you came back. I guess you'll be leaving soon then," Vernon said.

"Probably. I'm kind of nervous. He's probably worse off. Probably thinks I'm going to hate him or something. I've never hated him, I just don't understand him, and he's always seemed to hate me."

"You know him?" Dudley asked.

"Yeah. He's my Potions professor. You know, the one that always gave me a hard time, yet still tried to keep us from getting killed every year."

"Do you want to look at the albums alone?" Vernon asked.

"Not really. This is still kind of shocking, you know?" Harry opened the box and pulled out the albums. He opened the oldest one, and the three of them gathered around it. It started off with elementary school pictures of a pretty red-haired girl and a skinny and neglected-looking boy. There were pictures of the children playing, reading, and even a really cute one of two six-year-olds sleeping.

Moving through the albums, the two children grew up, made friends with James, Sirius, and Remus, got married, and were expecting.

The last two albums detailed Lily's pregnancy, Harry's birth, and Harry's early life up to his first birthday.

By this time it was almost four in the morning.

"You'll need time to deal with this. I'll tell Petunia that you're to stay in here today because I caught you doing something 'freaky' to Dudley. Dudley, you'll act suitably frightened. Got it?" They got up.

"Thanks."

After they left, Harry flopped down on the bed and re-read the letter. Suddenly, the fact that Ron and Hermione hadn't written much seemed very insignificant. Now, how he and Snape...er...his father would get on was a much bigger concern. Starting with what to call him; "Father" was too formal, "Dad" he wasn't too sure about, and "Daddy" was too juvenile. He'd probably start off with "sir" and after surveying the situation, just ask. Then there was Voldemort. That was a concern with no resolution, so he wasn't going to think too hard on it right now.

That was how he spent the next day: thinking, processing, and looking at the albums. He hadn't realized how much better Snape looked when he was actually smiling, then he realized that their smiles were similar.

Keeping Dumbledore's letter in mind, he gathered up his few things and resolved to wait for any further information. At about six in the morning on August 1st, he got it: an owled not in Snape's spiky handwriting.

_I will arrive at noon. Be ready. We will have much to discuss, so we are going to a more neutral and protected site._


	3. Dare You to Move

**Nope, still don't own them. If I did, I wouldn't have to worry about paying for college.**

AN: If you haven't noticed, I'm using song titles as chapters. The first two chapters, These Dreams and Photographs and Memories, are titles to Jim Croce songs. This chapter, Dare You to Move, is the title to a song by Switchfoot. Also, characters in my unfinished story, Lost and Found, will show up in this story, though not in this chapter.

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At eleven fifty-nine, Harry heard a knock at the door. He hurried to answer it before Petunia started screeching.

Severus Snape stood on the stoop. he was dressed in a dark green button-down and black slacks.

"Come in, sir," Harry said, opening the door wider to permit him entrance.

He gave Harry a nervous half-smile as he walked in.

"Who is it?" Petunia screeched as she walked into the room, Vernon behind her. Then she stopped, her eyes widening in recognition. "You! What are you doing here, you freak!"

"Petunia. How _nice_ to see you again," Snape said coldly. Over her shoulder, Vernon smirked in amusement. He remembered this man now, from the one Christmas dinner he had come to with Lily when his in-laws had still been alive.

"Pet, go upstairs and I'll handle this." Petunia went upstairs, screeching all the way, while Vernon made a spectacle of roaring at Snape and Harry.

As soon as Petunia's door clicked shut, Vernon said quietly, "Can you make it to where she can't hear us?"

Snape nodded, then cast the charm.

"That's better. I remember you now. Petunia hated Lily, so she takes out her hatred on Harry and spoils Dudley outrageously. I play along when she's around, but behind her back, it's different. I'd have divorced her, but then Harry'd have had nobody to ensure that he was taken care of at all. If you take care of him, I can divorce her and try to get at least physical custody of our son."

"I remember you as well. I'll take him gladly, and you have my gratitude and well wishes for doing what you could. Get your things Po...er...Harry. We're leaving."

Harry nodded and got his trunk with the box of albums in it, and Hedwig. "Goodbye and thanks, Uncle Vernon."

The man embraced Harry roughly. "Take care of yourself and kick that evil wizard Moldywart, or whatever his name is, to Kingdom Come."

"I'll try."

Snape shrank Harry's trunk and placed it in his pocket and went out the door, Harry, carrying Hedwig's cage, following him.

Outwardly, Severus was calm, but internally, his mind was racing. Now that he had Harry, what was he going to do with him? It had already been decided that he'd take him to Grimmauld Place. _Shit! Sirius and Remus!_ He'd have to seek them out individually and apologize for the past few years, and he definately needed to talk to Harry. Apparantly, from the way his uncle had talked, Harry likely already knew about their relationship. _He seems to be taking it well, or else he's waiting to see what will happen._

"Sir," Harry said, shaking Severus from his thoughts. "There are some things in my trunk that I'm supposed to give to you."

_James must have kept his word._ "Give them to me later. Now we're going to floo from Mrs. Figg's to the Headmaster's Office, and from there to the Meeting Place. I'm sure you'll be glad to see Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley again."

"Yes. Yes, sir, I would." _If only to have some help in dealing with all of this. _"May I tell them?"

Severus considered this for a moment. "Yes, you may. Just do it carefully. Sirius, Remus, and the Headmaster already know." _At some point we'll have to talk about Lily, and I'll asl have to tell him about Bel. That's going to be...difficult. He might not take that well._

After flooing twice and stepping out of the fireplace at Grimmauld Place, Harry was looking quite green, and Severus would have admitted to a certain level of queasiness.

Taking a deep breath to settle his stomach and his nerves, Severus took a look around. He turned to Harry and started to speak when Sirius ambled into the room.

"Harry! It's good to see you again!" He gave his godson a hug. "Ron and Hermione are upstairs. I'll show you up." He hurriedly ushered Harry up the stairs, neither one of them seeing the hurt look that crossed Severus' face for the briefest of moments.

Severus sat down hard at the table, putting his head in his hands. It would be nearly impossible to talk to Harry here, and why would he want to anyway? Why would anyone want to spend time with the bitter asshole he'd been for so long?

He broke off from his musing and looked up as he heard someone enter the room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

"Remus."

"Sev?" He gave a smile. "_You're_ back." His expression grew somber. "Does Harry know?"

"I assume so. I wanted to talk to him, but Sirius dragged him upstairs."

"Siri doesn't know you're back, obviously. I can take care of him. I think, if you make it clear that you _need_ to talk to him, Harry can take care of his friends."

He nodded, sighing. "Listen, Remus, I want to apologize..."

Remus held up a hand to silence him. "It's not neccessary. I knew what the memory alteration charms would do when they were done. It's of the past. Now as to how to get to know Harry, he's going to wait for you to make the first move. Here's what you can do." He proceeded to tell Severus of his plan.


	4. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

**Nope, still not mine.**

AN: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back is by the Desert Rose Band.

As soon as Harry entered the room, he was gathered into an embrace by Hermione and Ginny and soundly thumped by Ron and the twins.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry I've not written you, but..."

He held up a hand. "I know, and it's okay. Listen, guys, I have some big news to tell you. You'd better sit down for this one. You see...Snapeismyfather."

"What!? Did you say Snape is your father?" Ron was almost sputtering like a wet hen in shock. The twins looked like somebody had dumped buckets of cold water on them. Hermione merely looked speculative, eyeing Harry critically, while Ginny just stared at him.

"Yes, Ron, I did," Harry said patiently.

"But...how?"

"I'm sure your parents explained that to you some time ago."

"Oh, ha ha. I meant how do you know. I thought James Potter was your father."

"I'm going to show you this letter that was timed to appear on my fifteenth birthday, but you have to promise not to divulge any of the contents. Some of them are of a...personal nature."

"Alright." Harry handed Ron the letter. After he had read it, he passed it to Hermione and Ginny, who then passed it to Fred and George."

"It explains a lot," Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, your hair has gradually gotten darker and straighter, your skin has gotten paler, and your eye shape seems to have changed just a little. All small changes, not really noticeable to people who see you every day, but if we go some time without seeing you, they are obvious."

"So how's he taking it?" Fred asked.

"It's got to be shocking," George added.

"It's hard to tell. He's not really said much to me so far. He's actually been...nice, for him anyways. We're supposed to talk at some point."

"It sounds like you need to. He's probably just as confused and afraid of rejection as you are. I mean, how would _you_ react if you found out that somebody you've given a hard time for the past four years was you son?" Hermione asked.

"You're right. Now let's go down to dinner."

Dinner was a quiet affair. Sirius kept eyeing Snape critically, Molly kept trying to stuff everybody, and the twins were conspiring. Everybody else was too busy with their plates to talk much.

After dinner had been cleared, Severus walked up to Harry and started to speak. "We have a meeting in a few moments. After its conclusion, meet me in my rooms."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you." He put a hand on Harry's shoulder, at which Harry stiffened.

Snape dropped his hand, and a hurt expression crossed his face before it was replaced by a neutral expression. He walked away, his shoulders very slightly, almost imperceptibly, slumped.

Harry sighed and went up the stairs. This was going to be very hard for both of them.


	5. Take A Chance On Me

**Obviously, I still don't own them. **

AN: Take A Chance On Me is by ABBA.

Harry paced the room that he was sharing with Ron nervously. Occasionally, he would stop and run his hand through his hair and sigh loudly.

"Will you calm down, mate? You're making me dizzy!"

Harry sat down hard on the bed, sighing. "I think I hurt him, Ron. How do I fix this? I've never really had a parent before."

"What do you usually do when you hurt somebody's feelings, Harry?" Hermione asked, speaking for the first time.

"Well, I apologize..."

"Exactly. You apologize to him when you go see him tonight."

"It sounds easy when you say it, Hermione. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. I'm just not used to being touched in an affectionate way. Aunt Petunia just smacked me around, up until this summer, Dudley just beat me up, and Uncle Vernon could only show me any concern or affection when the other two weren't around. I even stiffen up when one of you hugs me sometimes."

"So you lay the blame on you. Make it clear he's done nothing wrong. Sure, he's been an evil git to all of us, but it sounds like he's been to hell and back."

"For once, Ron, you actually almost sound deep," Hermione said, smirking slightly. "You might actually have a shot with a girl if you keep it up."

"Ha ha, very funny. You'd better get a move on, Harry. It sounds like the meeting's letting out."

Harry made his way down the hall. His palms were sweating, so he wiped them on the legs of his pants. He waited outside of the room until he heard his father come up the stairs.

Severus' eyes widened slightly as he saw Harry in front of his door. He ushered him into the room, closing the door behind him.

"You came. I didn't expect you to." Severus' voice was solemn.

"I'm sorry, sir. My stiffening like that was not a rejection of you. I'm just not really used to being touched."

Severus relaxed at that. "Sit. We have much that we need to discuss."

Harry sat down on the couch that lined one wall. Severus sat down at the desk. "Sir, I already know. I found out yesterday."

"That resolves my first point then. The next point involves living arrangements. You obviously cannot go back to your relatives', blood wards be damned. I'm alternating between here and Hogwarts for the rest of the summer. You may accompany me if you wish."

"I would like that. I really do want this to work, sir."

"As so I." He sighed and looked at his hands. "I wish things could have been different."

"If wishes were horses, beggars could ride. What is, is. It's not your fault. Hey, you've kept us from getting killed for the past four years."

He gave a half-smile at that. "So, _now_ you finally decide to thank me."

Harry laughed softly at that. "In my trunk is a box. I'm to give it to you after I've looked at the contents."

"Have you?" Severus asked as he pulled Harry's shrunken trunk out of his pocket and enlarged it.

"Yes." He opened the trunk and took out the box. He carried the box over and set it on the desk. He started to go, to give his father privacy to look at the contents alone, when a single word stopped him.

"Stay." Harry stopped and turned towards him. "This is a part of you as well."

Harry pulled up a chair and together they took out the first album.

Harry noticed that Snape looked close to breaking down several times as he kept a running commentary on the photographs, though he managed to hold himself together. That began to change, however, as he got to the last two albums, the ones he hadn't been there for.

About halfway through the first of the last two albums, he closed it, tears leaking out from his closed eyes. "Put it away. I can't look anymore tonight."

"All right. Do you want me to go?"

"No, please. Stay here tonight."

" I don't want to inconvenience you..."

"I was without you for fifteen years. Give me one night, please."

_That translates to 'I don't want to be alone'._ " All right. Just let me go get my things and tell Ron so he doesn't worry. He's a regular mother hen sometimes.

Severus nodded as Harry exited the room.

When Harry entered the room that he was sharing with Ron, he was immediately pounced upon by Ron and Hermione.

"How did it go?" Ron asked.

"Alright, I guess. He seemed to accept my apology. We talked about some things. I'm staying with him for the rest of the summer. We'll be alternating between here and Hogwarts, so I'll still see the two of you. Then we started looking at the photo albums."

"How did that go?" Hermione asked gently.

"Rough. He was just barely keeping it together some of the time when he was telling me about the pictures. He started crying on the first of the last two--the ones that James had promised to make him."

"Crying? I didn't think that was possible," Ron said.

"It _is_ logical," Hermione said. "For a long time, he's acted the way somebody would when they've lost a former friend and a rival. Now he's acting like somebody who's lost their spouse and a good friend. Maybe you should stay with him tonight, Harry. Nobody should have to grieve alone."

"That's what I was going to do. I just came to get my things." He began gathering the things he would need, Ron and Hermione Helping him so that it would be done faster.

When Harry returned to his father's rooms, the couch had been transfigured into atwin bed. He sat down on it and waited for Snape to come out of what he assumed to be the bathroom, since most of the rooms here seemed to come with adjoining baths. Not surprising, considering that the Blacks had been quite wealthy.

When he came out, Harry took his turn in preparing for bed. His pajamas consisted of a t-shirt and boxers. He noted that his father's sleeping attire consisted of black pajama pants and a black tank top. _He must get hot at night like I do._

When he came out of the bathroom, Severus was sitting at the desk, staring at a dusty leather-bound book. "Harry," he said, not looking up.

"Sir?"

"I have a confession of sorts to make." He took a deep breath. "Your mother was not the only woman I have loved." He opened the book and pulled out a picture.

Harry looked at it. It was of a young woman with straight dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a kind smile. Her head was tilted at an upward angle, as though the photographer had just gotten her attention. Since it was a wizarding photograph, her smile became a broad grin, then she ducked her head.

"Who was she?" Harry asked.

"Her name is Brynach Latham. I met her my first year teaching. She was a fourth year and an absolutely awful potions student. She blew up more cauldrons in one year than Longbottom has in four. The only reason she got an acceptable on her O.W.L. was because she got an O on the lab safety portion. We did not act on out mutual attraction until her sixth year, the fall of 1983, when she was no longer my student. Her parents approved and gave the Headmaster extremely explicit instructions not to interfere. We grew closer, and by the time she graduated in 1985, we were discussing marriage. We decided to hold off until she completed her studies. You see, Bel was an American from North Carolina. The Headmistress at the Salem Institute had contacted the Headmaster when she was ten because they had noticed that some of the magical skills she was displaying were beyond their capabilities to instruct. So she was accepted at Hogwarts and sorted into Gryffindor."

"What happened to her?"

"I'm not entirely sure. We were attacked by rogue Death Eaters who had evaded Azkaban. She knew that for us to be seen together would prove fatal for us both, as well as blow my cover, so she fled to provide me a means to get away. She was either sealed or sealed herself into an unusual time-turner t hat I keep in my quarters."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, since the Dark Lord is back, two of her half-brothers, Dale and Everett, are coming here tomorrow afternoon to perform modifications on the wards here. They are the best in the field of ward-building. Bel knew about you, Harry, and if she knew, Dale and Everett likely know, so I didn't want any awkward questions."

"I understand. How did she know about me?"

"The Headmaster told her. This is her diary." He indicated to the book. "I have never read it, but yesterday, the entry I flipped to revealed that."

"Ah." Harry's mind was whirling. He had just found out that he had a father, and now, a possible future stepmother? "What was she like?"

"Very intelligent, other than at Potions, compassionate, with a strange sense of humor. She had a tendancy to swear when under stress, but with thirteen brothers, eleven of them older, that was to be expected. She had a quick temper, rivalling that of your friend Mr. Weasley, but of shorter duration."

"She sounds like somebody I could like if I met her."

"You might get to someday. Now let's go to bed. It has been a long and trying day."

Harry nodded and climbed into bed, while Severus extinguished the light and got into bed himself.

_Tonight must be the night for confessions_, Harry thought as he fell asleep.

About three hours later, he was jerked out of sleep by a low moaning. He opened his eyes and looked over at his father's bed while slamming his glasses onto his face. He could make out in the moonlight that the man was writhing. The moans became rasping sobs, motivating Harry to climb out of bed and make his way over to the other bed. He grabbed Severus' shoulder and shook it. "Sir, wake up." No respons. "Wake up, please. It's just a nightmare." That didn't work either. "Dad! Wake up!" Harry was almost shouting.

That did it. Severus' eyes opened, and he fell back, gasping. He then got up and bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Harry winced in sympathy as he heard him vomiting.

He stole quietly into the bathroom and got a flannel and soaked it in cold water from the tap. He also filled a cup with water. He knelt down beside the older man, who was kneeling beside the toilet, his head resting against the tank. Very gently, Harry started to wipe his face with the cloth.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked softly.

Severus shook his head and started throwing up again.

This went on for several minutes, until there was nothing left for him to bring up. Harry gave him the water to rinse his mouth out with and waited until he was steady enough on his feet to lead back to the bedroom.

"Thanks," Severus said quietly as Harry helped him back into bed.

"No need. That must have been some nightmare."

Severus nodded as he began to doze again. When he was asleep, Harry pulled the blanket up around his shoulders, then went back to his own bed, where, after much tossing and turning, he finally fell asleep.


	6. Don't Try So Hard

**Nope, still not mine.**

AN: After much debate, I finally settled on, for the title of this chapter, Don't Try So Hard, which is a song by Queen.

The next day, Harry sought out Ron and Hermione to ask if she had read anything about a Brynach Latham, or of a Dale or Everett Latham. He had already decided that he wouldn't discuss the night before, choosing to protect his father's vulnerability. He was willing to bet the contents of the Potter vault that it was not the first time that had happened, nor would it be the last.

"Dale and Everett Latham?" Ron asked. "They're coming? I haven't seen them in about five years!"

"You know them?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. They've worked with Bill on a few projects, and have come home with him a few times. They had a half-sister that went to Hogwarts in the late seventies and early eighties. She was a lot younger than them, but they were really close."

"That must be Brynach Latham," Hermione surmised. "Here's the article on her in our History of Magic textbook. It's in the really recent stuff that Professor Binns will get to in our seventh year, if he gets to it at all."

Harry took the book from her and began to read the article:

LATHAM, Brynach Elaine (b. 31 August 1967). Brynach Latham was born in Gray Mountain, North Carolina, USA, to Robert Latham (b.1906) and Corrine Jenkins Latham (b.1937). The Latham family believed in the children being educated in both the muggle education system as well as the wizarding, and Brynach was an apt pupil. She earned her high school diploma (the muggle equivalant of graduating from a school of magic) at the age of seven, and a baccalaureate in muggle physics at the age of ten. She was found to have magical capabilities beyond the ability of the Salem Institute to instruct, particularily in the areas of defensive magic, protective magic, and empathic healing. She was accomplished in telekinesis and was a natuaral legillimens, as are most of the Latham family. She began attending Hogwarts in the fall of 1978, completing her studies there in 1985. During her summers, she pursued a master's degree in physics, which she completed in the summer of 1985. After this, she pursued independent research in the muggle world with her brothers Dr. Everett Latham (b. 1942) and Dr. James Latham (b. 1963). She also conducted research in the wizarding world, publishing the articles "A Discussion On the History of Protective Magic" and, working with Potions Master Severus Snape and Mediwitch Jade Cummings, the article "Effectiveness of Dreamless Sleep versus Somnus Clemens on Patients With Trauma-Induced Nightmares and Night Terrors". On 20 November 1986, while on a resucue mission, she engaged in protective magic, either sealing herself or was sealed into a time-turner. The location of this time-turner, since it is not recognized by the Ministry of Magic, is unknown.

"Wow," was all Harry could say.

"She was very intelligent," Hermione said. "Muggle physics is a very difficult subject. There is a lot of math involved.

"What's physics?" Ron asked.

"Basically it's the science of matter, motion, and space and time. It's really heavy on experiments. Basically, it's a lot of complicated stuff. I'll have my parents bring one of their old physics texts when they meet us in Diagon Alley before school starts."

"I know where that time-turner is," Harry said.

"Where?" Ron asked._ Obviously they wrote that article together, and he was probably her professor at some point, but were they friends or something? _

"In Dad's quarters. He kept it."

"Why?"

"He was with he when she disappeared. They were more or less engaged, but they had decied that she would complete her studies before they got married."

"Then he has every right to have it," Hermione said. _I'm going to look up those articles when we get back to school. _

"Geez, his life has really sucked," Ron said. "He gets married, loses his wife, and doesn't find out until fourteen years after the fact, had a kid with her and doesn't find that out until then either, and meets another person who he also loses. No wonder he's such a git."

"Yeah," Harry said. _And depressed._ "He showed me a picture of her last night. She was really pretty and looked like she was a kind person."

"Wizarding photographs usually line up with how the person actually is," Ron said. "What did she look like?"

"She had long dark brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin."

"What was she doing?"

"Well, at first she had a kind smile, then it became a grin, and she ducked her head like she was kind of shy or something."

"So she probably is a kind-hearted person who can be very shy at times, but also has a sense of humor," Hermoione surmised.

"Yeah. Get this, guys. She knew about me. Dumbledore told her."

"Well, considering that she was a natural legillimens, Occlumency probably came easily to her."

"To change the subject, when did you start calling him 'dad'?" Ron asked.

"Last night. Some things happened, and it...sort of slipped out." _Please don't pry, Ron._

"Oh." _I get it Harry. You want to protect him._ "So you two getting on okay?"

"Yeah. We talked again this morning. He wants me to stay with him for the next couple of days. It's hard to get used to, him wanting me around, as well ass him talking to Remus and Sirius like friends instead on enemies."

"Yeah, that's going to take some getting used to. Reckon he'll go any easier on us this year?" Ron asked.

"I doubt it. He has an image to uphold, and it wouldn't do his cover any favors to be nice to us in class."

"Right. So I guess it's us giving him something to yell about, an if not us, Neville will oblige by means of his own klutziness."

"Yeah. He said Bel was worse, though."

"Back to her, the dark brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin must be a family trait. Both Dale and Everett look like that."

"Ah." Suddenly a booming bass shouted, "Haloo! Anyone home?"

"That's Everett," Ron said. "Dale doesn't talk much.

"Hello, Ev, Dale," Harry heard his father say as he, Ron, and Hermione came down the stairs. Fred, George, and Ginny were already in the room.

"Ron!" Everett shouted. "You've grown a foot or better since I say you last. Fred, George, y'all still planning that shop?" At their nod, he continued. "Ginny, you get prettier every time I see you." He looked around. "You must be Harry. Good to finally meet you." He stuck out a large hand and Harry shook it. Dale gave a shy smile and did the same.

Ron had been right about the coloring being a family trait. Both men were tall, Everett being the taller. Dale wore his hair long and tied back. Everett wore his shorter and in a layered cut. Both men wore jeans and button-down shirts.

"Who is this?" Dale asked softly, indicating to Hermione.

"This is Hermione Granger, Dale," Severus said smoothly.

"Ah, a pleasure." He took her hand and kissed it.

"Well, now that we've gotten the introductions out of the way, let's get started on those wards. Y'all might want to sit down. Ward checking, building, and modifying can be dangerous if you're not braced for it."

When everybody was seated, Everett began one spell to check the wards against intruders, while Dale began one to check against visibility.

The wards on the first floor took two hours, during which everybody present experienced near-fainting spells, and for those prone to motion sickness, severe nausea.

"It's better you experience it now," Dale said. "You won't feel it when we do the other floors. It's the same for ward-building anywhere."

It was nearly ten o'clock at night before the two brothers were finished. They then approached Severus.

"Do you still have her?" Everett asked softly.

"Yes. I retrieved her from my quarters this morning beforre you came."

"May I see her? Dale and I want to see if there has been any change since five years ago."

"Of course. I want Harry here. He already knows."

"Of course. His two friends as well? I intend to explain protective magic to them. With _him_ being back, they may need to know."

"Yes. They likely know as well."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at the dining-room table with Severus, Dale, Everett, and surprisingly, Sirius and Remus, who had also known Bel, though not very well, through an Jade Cummings, who had been an on-again, off-again grilfriend of Sirius' as well as Bel's best friend at Hogwarts.

"May I have it," Dale asked.

Reverently, Severus pulled off a gold chain with a blue-and-gold time-turner on it. Carved into it were runes for love and protection, as well as the words "to love and protect" carved into it in Latin. The sand was irridescent blood-red, and remained half in each container no matter which way it was turned.

Dale and Everett held it in cupped hands, eyes closed, concentrating. They then handed it back to Severus, smiling.

"She is aware now. She knows that you have cared for her, and that you are here now. Her soul is concentrating most of its energy to returning to this space-time continuum, so she can't talk for long. Just hold it in your hands and call her. You may have to say it out loud. She will respond out loud regardless."

Severus nodded. "Bel," he said, holding the time-turner.

"Yes, Sev?" The voice was kind, with a very faint American Southern accent.

"Bel, I miss you so much. At times it's almost unbearable."

"I miss you too, though I am with you always. Dale said you have your son now. Is this true?"

"Yes. I have Harry and my real memories back."

"That is good."

"How much longer must we be apart?"

"It will probably be a few more years, Sev. I simply willed my physical body to another time and place to protect you. Be patient. As time goes on, I will be able to communicate more frequently. Remember that I love you always, and that I love your child, though I have never met him. He's here, isn't he?"

"Yes. He is sitting next to me."

"Harry, take care of him, will you? He needs not only a son, but a friend; somebody to be his strength when he is weak, somebody that he can fall apart in front of and them not think any less of him for it. Do that, and I will be grateful."

"I will," Harry said, touching the time-turner so that Bel could hear his response.

"Good. I must go now. I love you, Sev."

"And I you." Then it was silent.

Severus laid the time-turner gently on the table, then got up and fled the room.

"Go after him," Dale said to Harry. "He needs a shoulder. If Ev or I went, he'd ball up, thinking that he doesn't have the right to hurt, since she's our sister, when he has just as much right, if not more.'

Harry nodded and left, looking for Severus.

He found him on an isolated landin. He was sitting against the wall, his head on his arms, which were on his bent knees, and his shoulders were shaking.

"Dad?" Harry knelt down beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. On an impulse, he put his arms around him. "Dad, it's okay."

At that, Severus broke completely and began sobbing. Harry just let him cry, not knowing what else to do, but knowing that this was something that needed to happen.

The two of them remained like that for some time, until they heard footseps on the landing below. Harry looked up to see Hermione coming up the stairs.

"Is he all right?" she mouthed to him.

Harry nodded. Hermione came the rest of the way up the stairs. She didn't say anything until after she had handed Severus the tissues that were in her pocket. He nodded in thanks, not trusting himself to speak.

Hermione then sat down against the opposite wall. "Dales teaching Ron the basics of what physics is, and Everett's teaching Fred and George how to make stinkbombs and slime."

"Like they need to know that," Harry said. "They get in enough trouble with wizarding pranks without throwing muggle ones in."

For some strange reason, the image of the Weasley twins setting off stinkbombs during Opening Feast entered Severus' mind, and he started laughing quietly.

Harry quirked an eyebrow at him, and then started laughing himself.

Just then, Ron raced up the stairs and flopped down next to Hermione. "Man, 'Mione, you were right. That's hard stuff."

"Especially considering that Dale's field of muggle academics is music. It would be the equivalent of me trying to explain Divination. You would have been better off asking Everett. His field is Chemistry." Severus was finding the idea of Dale explaining physics highly amusing.

Ron had to snort at the image of his Potions professor teaching Divination.

"You mention that they are educated in muggle academics. Are all of them, sir?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Dale and Ev's mother was a muggle. Where they are from, blood is considered far less important. Bel once referred to the war here as being started by 'a stupid-ass madman on a stupid-ass pursuit of so-called purity'. That woman, Emmeline, was the mother of the nine oldest children. The current Mrs. Latham, Corrine, is the mother of the youngest six, of which Bel was the fourth. All of the children were required to graduate from a muggle high school as well as choose a field of study at a university. Dale's was music, specifically voice and piano. Ev's was chemistry, and Bel's was physics. There were three in biology, four in music, one in Chemistry, one in physics, two in accounting, one in economics, two in businesss administration, and one chose liguistics, or the study of languages."

"Wow. They must have been busy," Ron said.

"Indeed. Bel was always studying when I would visit her during the summers before and after here seventh year, while she was completing her master's. She spent almost as much time in research and experimentation as I do. Before she sealed herself," he choked up just a little, "she, Everett, and another of their brothers, Jim, had just started working on a new reseach project. Apparantly, the siblings that were in similar fields do that often. They are a family as close knit as yours,...Ron." He surprised himself by saying his name.

Ron nodded in understanding. Though he only knew Dale and Everett, it was obvious that the two of them were as close as Fred and George, and that they came from a close-knit family.

Just then, Remus came up the stairs. "You might want to go to bed. It's half past one, and Professor Dumbledore is coming tomorrow. Siri just got off the floo with him, after he broke in one his call with Jade. Apparantly, they're on again." He rolled his eyes.

Severus just shook his head. The on-again, off-again relationship between Sirius and Jade had often proven amusing, as well as trying, for any bystanders. He then got up and began heading towards his room.

"I'll be along in a few minutes," Harry said. "I've just got to go get a change of clothes."

After Ron, Harry, and Hermione went back to the bedroom, Hermione asked, "Now, honestly, is he okay? He was almost crying when he left that meeting and Dale told you to go after him."

"Yeah, he seemed pretty upset," Ron said. He actually sounded concerned.

"I think he's all right," Harry said, looking down at his hands. "He _was_ really upset. When I told him it was okay, he broke down and started not just crying, but _sobbing_. I just let him cry and just stayed put. He's hurting a lot, and I don't know how to help him."

"I couldn't help but overhear," Sirius said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "You're doing the best thing you can do, Harry, by just being there and accepting him in a way that none of the rest of us can. You're something he lost because of all this stupidity that he actually got back. That gives him a little hope. I only met Bel twice, but she had a way of bringing out the best in people. Ev said, when I was talking to him, that he really loved her, and I'll agree with that."

"I'm confused, Siri. I'm actually _happy_ that he found somebody else after Mum died. Shouldn't I be outraged, upset, something?"

"There's no right or wrong answer there. Just keep in mind that Lily and Bel were two very unique people. I'm glad that you're happy for him. I figure that's bothered him a lot over the past couple of days."

"Siri, can I tell you something in private?"

"Sure, Harry." He indicated for Ron and Hermione to step out for a moment, then warded the room against eavesdroppers. "Tell me."

"Siri, he has nightmares. Bad ones, worse than mine."

Sirius winced. "That's nothing new. You know what to do there." He shook his head. "You might need to know that he sleepwalks and sleeptalks, especially when he's really upset or stressed. James and I found him up on the astronomy tower once, and I remember when his mother died, about a month after he married Lily. It was so bad that we just told Lily that if she took care of him, we'd take care of everything else. We arranged the funeral, the burial, all of it, and James paid for it. He was in bad shape then, and he's heading in that direction now. He got to where, for a couple of days, he couldn't keep anything down, and couldn't sleep, not that he slept much anyway. Now he's realizing that Lily's dead all over again, and being given hope about Bel, and finding out about you, he's just overwhelmed. Take care of him, Harry. Remus and I will do what we can, as will Ron and Hermione I know, but it falls the most to you to help him. Now go on and good luck. Just follow your instincts. They've done you good so far."

Harry nodded and hugged his godfather goodbye before letting Ron and Hermione back in. After saying goodbye to them, he went to the room he was sharing with his father filled with a faint spark of optomism.


	7. Land of Confusion

**Nope, I'm just playing with them again.**

AN: Land of Confusion...I prefer the Genesis version, though the Disturbed version isn't half bad. Also, I'll admit that this chapter is a bit of filler for the most part, though the events in it will ensure that a couple of the characters are around later in the story. I have most of the story's high points planned out, including the final scene, but it's just coming up with all of the stuff to connect the dots that is hard.

Sure enough, Dumbledore arrived the next day in a flurry of spangled robes. He obviously had a pressing concern on his mind.

"The ministry has given me one day to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, or they will fill it. I cannot ask you, Remus, back because of your condition, Sirius, you are still technically on the run, and, Severus, even if you truly wanted the position, the ministry would never allow it."

"That is true," Severus said. "I just keep applying, and you keep rejecting so that it appears to the loyal Death Eaters that I am trying to pave the way for the Dark Lord."

"Hey, Dale." Everett's accent grew from very slight to quite broad. Harry saw him give Severus a wink.

"Yeah, Everett." Dale responded in the same exaggerated accent.

"Got any pressin' engagements for the next year or so?"

"_I_ don't. You?"

"Me neither. Professor, I think me 'n Dale here could see our way clear to offer you a solution to your little predicament."

"How so?" Dumbledore asked.

'Dale and I will take the job. We're respectable, our backgrounds check out, we have a bit of a reputation, and you'll get two for the price of one, since Dale and I are a package deal."

Harry looked over at his father and saw that he was trying to suppress a smile, though his eyes held an amused spark.

Dumbledore looked grateful as he said, "I accept your terms Dr. Latham, Mr. Latham."

"All right then. When does school start."

"September first. The two of you will be introduced during opening feast. Classes start the next day."

"Required text?"

"You will select. The past few years, Baurman's has been used, with the exception of the unfortunate year with Lockhart."

"Baurman's is all right, but a bit pedantic. Lockhart's stuff is only good for toilet paper. Either way, I don't want to ask anybody to read something I wouldn't read myself. Pinot's is interesting, but Gamble and Quimby's gives better practical information. Am I correct in assuming that the class has both a knowledge and practical component?"

"Yes."

"I'll go with Gamble and Quimby's then. Dale and I will divide up how we'll teach the classes between ourselves."

"I'd go with a team approach, Ev," Dale said.

"Alright. So, are you all right with Gamble and Quimby?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "I will send messages to the students, as well as handle the ordering."

"Good. I always hated that part."

"I take it you have taught before?"

"I've taught Chemistry off and on since about 1970, between ward-building jobs and research projects.'

"What age group?" Remus asked.

"College undergraduate, or eighteen to twenty-two year olds mostly. Also high school, or fourteen to eighteen year olds for about three years. Preferred the high school group. They were still new enough to the material to not be cocky about lab safety and nearly blow themselves up. Dale here's taught voice and piano lessons, as well as the odd year or two of music theory."

"What's each year required to know?" Dale asked.

"I still have my outlines for when I taught it," Remus said.

"That'd help in writing syllabi, as well as lesson plans," Everett said.

"What's syllabi?" Ron asked.

"The plural of syllabus," Everett replied. "Basically, a document for a class outlining the purpose of the class, the required texts and materials, what will be covered that year, any rules and expectations, a tentative schedule of topics and test days, as well as office hours and contact info for the teacher."

"That might come in handy."

"It does. It's part of the C.Y.A. method of teaching."

"C.Y.A.?" Harry asked.

"Cover Your Ass. I've taught at institutions where, if it wasn't in writing, it wasn't valid. This way, you've given everybody a hard copy of the expectations up front, so nobody can come back at the end of the term and say that they didn't know about a requirement. Speaking of which, what does your grading scale look like, Professor?"

"Albus, please. You will receive a copy of it in the morning."

"Fair enough. Dale, we need to make a quick call to Corrie and Pap to tell them as well as to send for out things."

"Right. Borrow your floo?" Dale looked at Sirius.

"Sure. Take all the time you need."

"Thanks." Everett went over to the fireplace, threw in the floo powder, stuck his head in, and said, "Riverbend in Gray Mountain."

"Everett? What's going on?" An elderly woman's voice was heard.

"Nothing much Mam, other than Dale and me getting a job."

"Doing what?"

"Teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts."

"Well, I'd say you two have done pretty well for yourselves. I'll go get Bobby and Corrie. Take care, you two."

There was a long pause and then a man's voice came out. "Hello, son. Mam says you and Dale are 'gainfully employed'" He laughed. "Where are you staying, so Corrie and I can send your things when we get them packed."

"Twelve Grimmauld Place. Pap, Corrie, Sev's here, and he's got his son back. Do you want to talk to him?"

A very pleasant female voice cut in. "Of course! Why wouldn't we want to talk to our son? Put him on, Ev!"

Everett pulled his head out, went over, and dragged Severus to the fireplace. Severus reluctantly stuck his head in.

"Sev! How have you been?"

"I have been better, I'll admit."

"I'll say. You need to eat more, you know."

"A good tonic'd work." Mam's voice cut in. Dale and Everett both shuddered at the word 'tonic'.

"Now, now, Mam. I think it's just stress." The man spoke in a calming manner that reminded Harry of Mr. Weasley.

"So Ev says you have your son back. How is that going? He's what fourteen, fifteen now?" Corrie asked.

"I do. It is going as well as can be expected. He is fifteen now."

"Can I see him? We told you ten years ago that even if you and Bel didn't work out we'd still consider you our son, so by virtue of that, we consider Harry our grandson, and Mam's great-great grandson."

"You may." He pulled his head out and motioned Harry over.

Harry stuck his head in the fireplace, not knowing what he'd find on the other side.

What he saw was a very large, very pleasant-looking kitchen. Looking around, he saw a tall, thin man with dark brown hair, and a smaller, auburn-haired woman. At the table sat a tiny, wizened old woman who made Dumbledore look like a teenager in comparison.

"Hello, Harry," the younger of the two women said. "How are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Just fine. I'm Corrie, this is Bobby, and over there is Mam."

The man looked closely at Harry. "You look a lot like you father, but I'm assuming that there's some of your mother there."

"Bobby! You're going to scare the boy. He's probably only known about having a living father for a few days." Mam got up, walked over, and laid a hand on Harry's cheek.

A sense of calm flooded Harry, the guilt and anxiety brought on by the events of the past few months washed away by a soothing light.

"Like your father, you take on far more guilt than is truly yours. I'll tell you the same thing I told him back in 1983: let go of that guilt and fear before it consumes you." She kissed Harry on the forehead.

"You are one of us now, and we take care of our own. You will meet the rest of us some other time, but if you need or want to talk to us, we're just a floo call away," Bobby said, smiling at Harry.

"Take care of yourself, and good luck to you," Corrie said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Thank you," Harry said. As he took his head out of the floo. Dale was called over to talk to them.

Harry's mind was reeling. There was no doubt in his mind that the Lathams were both the strangest and the nicest people he had met. Not too many families, wizarding or muggle, would accept without question the existance of the child of their daughter's boyfriend's late wife. Nor would many have freely accepted someone with as much baggage as his father had.

"Harry." Everett came up beside him. "I'm going to discuss protective magic with you, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny. The twins and Ginny will be here in about ten minutes. Your dad and the rest need to talk about some things, I think, so we're going to go in the kitchen.

"All right." Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Everett into the kitchen. Fred, George, and Ginny arrived moments later.

"They're different, aren't they?" Everett asked Harry.

"What?"

"My family. Acceptance an unconditional love was drilled into our heads and hearts from birth. A heart capable of unselfish, unconditional love is most capable of intended protective magic."

"What type of love exactly are we talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Love that causes you to be willing to lay down your life without a second thought, that brings about the desire to see that person sare even at the expense of yourself. Do all of you understand the basics of shielding yourself?"

They all nodded.

"Good. Now you will learn how to shield another person, no matter what is getting thrown at you. Pair up and practice raising shields on yourselves first. Then on each other. If we accomplish that tonight, I'll be happy. Then you are going to learn the basics of occlumency, since…" he broke off as Severus stepped into the doorway, face white, his right hand gripping his left forearm.

"He's summoning. Can you lower the wards so I can apparate?"

"Sure. When you come back, apparate to this room." He said a word under his breath while making a motion similar to turning down a radio dial. He then nodded to Severus, who immediately apparated out.

"Now," Everett said, unable to completely hide his concern. "Where were we?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Not mine, not mine, not mine...**

AN: Never could come up with a decent title for this chapter. I also have most of chapter 9 written, but am in the process of massively rewriting it since it was written when I was half asleep.

It was six hours later when Severus returned. He looked exhausted, but otherwise unharmed, physically anyway. Emotionally, however, it was quite a different story.

He sat down at the kitchen table, resting his forehead in his hand. The headache from the one long cruciatus he'd been under tonight was rapidly turning into a full-blown migraine that not even the strongest headache potion could completely counteract.

Part of what was helping to fuel his headache was worry. Voldemort thought he had a sure means to defeat Harry. Apparantly, the failed killing curse had forged a link between the two of them. He intended to utilize the link to destroy Harry, either by sending him false visions to trick him into doing something foolish, or to send him images in order to either drive him mad or cause him to do harm to himself of somebody else.

One part of Severus' mind was telling him things like _Push him away. Don't get attatched to him. It'd be for his own good. It's your fault he's having to go through this. _The other part was saying _Too late for that. You actually know something of him now, and have come to love what you see: a generous, compassionate young man. This is your son, and you're not going to give him up to anyone, least of all the Dark-fucking-Lord, without a fight._

There was never really any contest. The second voice won. There was no way that Voldemort was going to get Harry if _he_ had anything to say or do about it.

He winced as he remembered the _other_ curse he had been hit with tonight, since Voldemort had been in a decidedly bad mood. It was one that would render any wizarding remedies for pain completely ineffective for several days, so he was going to have to ride this headache out, whether it lasted a few hours or a couple of days. _Oh fucking joy. An indeterminable amount of time with severe pain, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and it just keeps getting worse by the minute. Now all I need is for somebody to come in and turn on the light to send me racing over the sink to throw up._ He laid his head down on the table as he heard somebody coming down the stairs.

"Dad?" Harry's voice was just above a whisper.

"Don't turn on the light, please." His voice was laced with pain.

"Alright." He came the rest of the way into the room and over to the table, his bare feet making almost no noise on the floor. _No blood. That's a relief. Wonder why he didn't want the light...oh._ "Migraine?"

"Brilliant deduction. How did you ever guess?"

"I get them too. Do you want me to get you anything?"

"Nothing will help." He sighed and waited as his stomach gave a violent lurch. "The curse I was hit with ensures that no wizarding remedies will help for several days." He laid his head back down, groaning.

_If wizarding remedies won't work, maybe a muggle one will._ "I'll be right back," Harry said as he quietly went up the stairs to Ron's room, where he still kept his things.

"What're you looking for?" Ron asked tiredly as Harry woke him up with his rummaging.

"The ibuprofen I keep in my trunk."

"Why? You don't seem to have a headache."

"It's not for me."

"You mean…"

"Yeah. He's back. He's got a bad migraine, you know, like the ones I get, and the curse he was hit with tonight keeps wizarding remedies from working."

"Damn. I think I saw you put the bottle inside your yellow socks. You know, the ones you hate the most."

"Got them. Thanks, Ron!" He came back down the stairs to find Severus leaning against the sink, looking extremely nauseous. As Harry came back into the room, he groaned and laid his head down on the edge of the sink.

"Thought I was going to be sick," he mumbled as Harry helped him to sit back down.

Harry went over to the cabinet and got a glass and filled it with enough water to swallow the pills with, then sat down across from his father and opened the bottle, took four dark brown pills out, and set them in front of him. "Here. It's a muggle remedy. Eight hundred miligrams of ibuprofen."

"You take this? How?" Under normal circumstances, he would have easily figured it out, but the pain was making his mind fuzzy.

"Yes, I do, especially when I get one at night and don't want to go to the Hospital Wing. You just swallow the pills with the water. I'd do it one at a time if I've never done it before."

He watched as Severus took the pills. "When do they start working?"

"In about half an hour. Come one, let's get you upstairs. I believe there's a shower and a bed with your name on it."

"All right." He let Harry lead him up the stairs, pondering the strange roles of their relationship so far. _It seems like, more often than not, he's caring for me than the other way around. That hasn't happened in a long time._ "We have some things we need to discuss with the Headmaster in the morning. I want you there, since they concern you."

"Alright, Dad." He helped his father into his room and into the bathroom. "I'll be right outside if you need anything."

Harry sat on his bed and waited as he heard the shower turn on. Suddenly, his mind was flooded with images of him doing unimaginable things. Killing, looting, raping, it was all there. _That's not me._ The first thing Everett had taught them tonight was to recognize their own thought patterns and to identify foreign ones. _I'm not thinking these things, and I'll certainly never do them. Get. Out. Of. My. Head!!_ He isolated the foreign presence and pushed against it with all of his might.

Then it was gone, and he was lying in a heap on the floor, gasping.

"Harry, are you alright?" Severus' voice sounded almost…scared.

"Yeah." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "He tried to invade my mind with a flood of images of me doing horrible things, so I shoved him out."

"Good. That's one of the things that I was afraid of him doing. We need to call the Headmaster now instead of in the morning."

"Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea." He got up and grimaced. He was going to be covered in bruises later. "How's your head?"

"Better. The pain is almost gone. It does make you drowsy, though, doesn't it." Though he had been raised in a predominantly muggle home, his father had never seen fit to spend money on much more than alcohol, so he knew very little about muggle drugs and their side effects. _That's a part of my past I'm really not ready to discuss…._

"Yeah. It's been known to do that. Let's just hope this doesn't take too long."

Severus nodded stiffly. "Very true. You go wake everybody, and I'll go call the Headmaster."

Within half an hour, everybody was assembled in the kitchen. Severus updated everybody on the events of the past few hours. When he finished, Dumbledore looked very grave.

"Our decision to train Harry as well as his friends in not only Occlumency, but in other forms of mental defense was fortuitous then. Those lessons must be kept up, and lessons in potions, dueling, and animagus theory need to be added. If you achieve animagi status, you will _not_ register, since the ministry denies that there is any real threat."

"Isn't that illegal, sir?" Hermione asked.

"It is, but it is for the greater good. This way, your form and markings will not be registered."

"Besides, when has fear of breaking the law stopped us before," Dale said quietly from his seat between Everett and Remus. He then turned into a small, dark brown dog and back again. Since he was getting more comfortable with everyone, he was starting to talk more, particularily to Severus and Remus.

"Harry," Dumbledore said in an intense tone.

"Sir?"

"I do not want you, even after the school year resumes, to go anywhere without letting either your father, me, Dr. Latham, Mr. Latham, or your friends know where you are going and when you anticipate to return. In this house, Sirius and Remus will also suffice. Also, and this goes for all of you, you will tell no one about Harry and Severus' relationship without first binding them with an Unbreakable Oath that they will not discuss it with anyone other than those who are present when the oath is made or the two whom it concerns the most until their relationship is public knowledge."

Everbody nodded. "Is there a list of those that will be brought into this?" Dale asked. "Ev and I, as well as our brother Jim, have known since 1983, as have our parents and great-grandmother. Let's see: you Sirius, Remus, the youngest four Weasleys, and Hermione. Bill and Charlie Weasley probably suspect something, and might need to be brought in. Who else."

"Molly and Arthur Weasley, since four of their children definitely know, and two might suspect," Severus said.

"Roger and Jean Granger, since their daughter is involved. They have also been useful in notifying me of strange happenings in the muggle world," Dumbledore said.

"Possibly Vernon Dursley," Severus said. He had already told the Headmaster of the circumstances of Harry's departure from 4 Privet Drive. "He already knows, but he would be good to keep in mind as a possible secret-keeper should the need arise."

Dumbledore nodded. "Poppy Pomfrey knows everything up to the memory modifications, including how you three," he looked as Severus, Sirius, and Remus, "really feel about each other. I will let Minerva in on it when the need arises. Anybody else who we let in on this will have to undergo the oath _before_ they are told, so consider carefully who and under what circumstances you tell. Also, if _any_ of you experience anything similar to what Harry experienced tonight, seek one of us out, and we will determine any necessary damage control."

With that, the meeting was dismissed, and everyone went back to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Not mine, unfortunately...sigh**

Almost two weeks had passed since the meeting. During those two weeks, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny were rigorously taught by Dale, Everett, Severus, Remus, and Sirius the different skills that Dumbledore had felt that they would need, since, despite Molly Weasley's protests on behalf of their youth, war was not discriminatory when it came to age.

Everett brought them up to O.W.L levels in defense within the first week. His lectures were engaging and to the point, and his scenarios were applicable to real life. He was also teaching them mental defense, since an enemy like Voldemort might not attack the body, but choose to attack the mind instead. He, Dale, and Severus teamed up to teach them Occlumency, since their approaches to the theory behind it, as well as their legillimency styles, were different. Severus', as a trained legillimens, was very neat, forceful, and direct. Everett's style was very precise, delicate, and graceful, picking out thoughts and memories the same way a neurosurgeon would follow the trail of a neuron. Dale's was very careful, subtle, and light, to the point where, if one was not on guard, he could be in their mind, have found what he was looking for, and be gone before one realized it. Dale and Everett, as natural legillimens, did not have to be looking directly into the person's eyes to perform it, which was another reason they had decided to team up.

"We're not one hundred percent sure that the Dark Lord is not a natural legillimens," Severus said by way of explanation." So it is important for all of you to be aware of and defend yourself against both means."

Severus worked to bring them up to speed in potions in a way that he was unable to do while having to play his role of pandering to the children of Death Eaters. This education included teaching them how to safely sabotage their potions in order to make both of their jobs easier. To their surprise, they found themselves occasionally bantering with him, and discovering that he actually possessed a sense of humor, albeit a dry, sarcastic one.

Sirius was teaching them the theory behind animagus transformations. Eventually, under his supervision, they would begin to attempt actual transformations.

Remus and Dale taught dueling skills. Dale was an accomplished duelist, and Remus was an even match for him.

After a few days, Harry began to wonder if anyone else noticed Dale and Remus acting a bit _awkward_ around each other, doing things like giving each other lingering looks when one didn't think the other was watching, and blushing furiously when they got caught. They would often play piano/voice duets together in the evenings, or sit in the library talking quietly to each other. Eventually, he decided to bring it up to his father during one of the nightly talks they would have as they were getting ready for bed.

"Harry, quite honestly, I believe that they are attracted to each other. Dale is gay, though he's not the type to advertise it. Remus is bi, though, again, he is not the type to advertise it."

"Do you think that they'll get together?" Harry asked as the turned down his bed.

"I do not know. They are both painfully shy people, and neither one of them enters a relationship lightly. One or the other of them would have to get up the courage to make the first move"

The first move came a few days later, when Remus found hard-to-find chocolates outside his door, along with a note.

And so began the relationship between Remus and Dale. They both tried to keep it to themselves, Dale only telling Everett, and Remus only telling Sirius, but soon the whole house knew.

CJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJCJ

A couple of days later, Harry woke up with a sore throat and a low fever. He insisted that he was fine, so, despite some instinctual misgivings, Severus permitted him to continue with his lessons, with the instructions to stop and come to him immediately if he started feeling worse.

About midmorning, during a break between lessons, while he was talking to Ron, he suddenly sat down, looking very pale and dizzy.

"Harry? You okay, mate?" Ron gripped his shoulder to keep him from falling over.

'Dizzy...get Dad." Fred and George went to go find Severus. "Ron..." His face took on a greenish tinge. "Ron, I think I'm..."

Ron had already _accio_-ed the wastebasket and had it in place when his friend started throwing up.

Seconds later, Fred returned with Severus. He waited until Harry stopped throwing up, then went over to him and crouched down to where they were almost eye-to-eye. Severus laid a hand on his son's forehead. "Harry, you're burning up!" He cast a quick spell and nearly gasped at the temperature.

'"You have a high fever and should be in bed."

"Dad...I'm gonna..." He threw up all over the man in front of him.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." He was almost crying.

Severus vanished the mess with another quick spell. "Harry, it's all right," he said gently. "There's no harm done." _Besides, you've already seen me in bad shape, and probably will see me in worse before this war's over._ "Come on, let's get you into bed.'

"Okay," Harry said weakly, which, in all honesty, frightened Severus more than anything.

He very easily picked his son up and started to carry him. "Ron," he said, "you will bring his night-clothes to my room." _Merlin! I've actually learned their names. I can even tell which twin is which. I never thought I'd see the day..._

"Yes, sir," Ron replied, worry for his friend fueling him as he raced to his room and to Harry's trunk.

When he got back to their room, Severus laid Harry down on his bed. He looked up as Sirius came in, carrying a pair of pajamas. Wordlessly, they changed Harry into them, since he was too out of it to do it himself.

"I'll stay with him while you go floo Poppy," Sirius said softly.

Severus nodded stiffly and went downstairs to the floo. _He's scared,_ Sirius thought. _he always stiffens up like that when he's scared._

"How'd you get so sick, cub?" Sirius asked.

"Dunno, Siri," Harry said weakly. "Thought it was nothing."

"So you just kept pushing yourself, huh?" He gave his godson a lopsided grin. "You get that from your father, you know."

"What else did I get?" In his fuzzy mind, Harry was truly curious, and here was somebody he could ask.

"Pushing yourself too hard, stubborness, a temper, a guilt complex a mile wide, the ability to love deeply given the right circumstances, a lot of your looks, your build, which means you'll always be on the thin side, your smile, and your laugh, when he actually is able to cut loose and really laugh." He sobered, and said quietly, "He's had a pretty shitty life, but that's not my story to tell. You've been good for him, Harry. I've seen more of the old Sev, the one that your mother married, in the past couple of weeks than I have in years."

"Siri, can I have a little water?"

"Sure, cub." he went and got him a cup of water and helped him to drink a litle of it.

"Siri, can I ask..." Just then, Severus and Poppy came into the room.

"You two wait outside. I'll tell you something in a bit," she said briskly. The two men left the room and went into the hallway.

"Sev? You okay?" Sirius laid a hand on the other man's shoulder. Not surprisingly, Severus stiffened, then relaxed as he realized that this was Siri, and old friend, not Black, the adversary. He felt guilt wash over him as he remembered that he had nearly sent him to a fate worse than death.

"None of that," Sirius said sternly. "We've already talked about that. It's in the past." _He's ready to break apart, and will sooner or later._

"I am aware of that," Severus snapped. _How can you, Remus, and Harry most of all, forgive me?_

"Mentally, maybe," Sirius said, leaning against the wall. "Emotionally, hell no. Now, I know what you're probably thinking. You haven't failed Harry in this. You were there when it really mattered today. And he's already forgiven you for the past. In fact, he's never really held it against you."

Severus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "What if it's something serious, Siri? What if I..."

"What if it's nothing at all?" Molly Weasley laid a hand on his arm and smiled at him. "Welcome to parenthood, the most rewarding and nerve-wracking job in the world." She gave him a stern look. "Sit down. If you keep your knees locked like that, you're going to pass out, and then Poppy'll have two patients instead of one." She waited until Severus was seated, then went on. "There's going to be times that you think that you're doing the worst possible job, but if he's alive, relatively happy, and occasionally getting on your nerves, you're doing it right."

"Does it get any easier?" Severus asked, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.

"Some. You'll still feel scared and upset whenever one of them is sick, hurt, or could have gotten hurt, but that comes with the territory. Your first one is the hardest, because you're thrown into a job with no real training and no real experience. At least _you_ didn't drag him to St. Mungo's for gas!"

At that, Severus' eyes flew open, and he gave a snort of suppressed laughter. Sirius, on the other hand, didn't have that level of control, and burst out laughing.

That was how Poppy found them when she came out. She shot Molly a somewhat grateful look as she walked over to Severus. "He's fine. It was nothing more than strep throat and the beginnings of an ear infection. I've already given him the necessary potions. He'll probably sleep for the rest of the day, and should stay in bed tomorrow, but he should be fine after that."

Severus could have kissed the matron in relief. Instead, he settled for giving her a somewhat shy half-smile as he asked, "Can I…we," he indicated to Sirius and Molly, "see him? We won't wake him."

Poppy gave them a stern look, then nodded crisply. "You may. If he wakes up, he may be somewhat disoriented, and say things that he would ordinarily keep to himself, so be prepared for that."

"Yes, Poppy," Severus said, mentally rolling his eyes.

"Very well. Call if you need anything else." She went downstairs to the floo.

Severus, Sirius, and Molly walked into the room and stood beside Harry's bed.

"I see it now," Molly said. "At first, I was skeptical when the kids and the Headmaster told Arthur and me, but I see it now."

"See what?" Severus asked.

"The resemblance. I know the glamours haven't completely faded, but he's getting your hair color and texture, his skin tone's getting closer to yours, and he's starting to get your build. Then I was worried about how you two would work out, but the kids, Ronald most of all, put a stop to that. He said that Harry was happy, and that you seemed more…relaxed, and that if you two were happy, that's all that mattered. I think you two will work out just fine." She sniffled a bit.

"Oh, stop with the sentimentality, woman," Severus said, but there was no malice in his voice.

"Dad?" Harry had woken up, blinking owlishly and looking scared.

"Right here, Harry." He went over and grasped his son's hand.

"Good. I'm glad you're here. I dreamed you went to a meeting and never came back." He looked less frightened.

"Harry, I'll always come back to you, even if it sometimes takes me a while. I'll _always_ come back to you, I promise." At this point, Molly discreetly left the room, tears in her eyes.

"I'm glad. I don't want to lose you now, Dad. I love you too much."

Severus was shocked, but in a good way. His son had just told him that he loved him. Sure, Harry had _shown_ it in the past weeks by talking to him, listening to him when he needed to talk about Lily or Bel, waking him from his nightmares, consoling him during the several where he had woken up sobbing uncontrollably by just putting his arms around him and telling him that it was okay, and by accepting that he wasn't ready to talk about some things, including his childhood, the things he had done as a Death Eater, among other things, but to hear him _say_ it overwhelmed him. So when he finally found his voice…

"I…I love you too, Harry. I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10

**Nope, still not mine.**

AN: Chapter 10 had started to become a ginormous epic, so I've split it into two chapters. I am also aware that I'm messing with the 'official' timeline a bit, but that's the fun of AU.

A few days later, Severus told Harry that they were going to be going to Hogwarts for the next few days, meeting up again with the others in Diagon Alley when it came time to purchase textbooks.

Not surprisingly, Dale and Everett, as well as Remus, would be coming along with them to set up Dale's and Everett's offices and their quarters. They had, after an hour or so of haggling, which was more of a ritual than anything, settled with Dumbledore on separate quarters that were connected by a single door, since they had only very rarely lived apart over the course of their lives, and separate offices.

"We don't like being too far apart," Everett told Harry as he was assembling a small wooden box. "There's only about nine months between us, 'cause I was born a month early, and we've only rarely lived apart since, and never for very long. The longest period was when I subbed for your dad back in '81 after all that bad business. Even though your dad was working for Dumbledore, he still had to go through a trial and all that. Whole thing took about four months, so I was there from November through February." He picked up a paintbrush and began staining the box. "Dale rented a flat in Hogsmeade to be nearby. It was good, in a way. I got to spend time with my favorite sister, teaching a subject that is, in some ways, the wizarding equivalent of Chemistry, and I got to explore the wards on one of the best-warded structures in history."

"Favorite sister? You have more than one?" Harry asked. Severus had had to discuss some things with Dumbledore, and Dale and Remus were off somewhere, so Harry and Everett had struck up a conversation.

"I have two. Alberta is almost twelve years older than me, and Bel's twenty-five years younger than me. Dale and I practically raised her, since Corrie was sick for a long time after Levi and Marshall were born. Something about a rare type of magical incompatibility. Bel was old enough to say she wanted to stay with us. Ira and Jim stayed with Bertie, since she had kids their age, Kingston stayed with Carl, and Hank stayed with Bruce. So Dale and I were the first she told when she got with your dad. I remember her and Dale giggling like schoolgirls the first time they kissed. After that, I sort of tuned out on _their_ conversations."

"Dad said your parents approved?"

"Yeah. Pap and Corrie usually have a good read on people. Your father, despite the walls he puts up to keep from getting hurt, really is a good person, and they and Mam picked up on that. Each year, a different teacher would come to pick her up. The first year, it was Dumbledore, second was McGonagall, third was Flitwick, fourth was Hooch, fifth was Sprout, and sixth and seventh years it was you father. The lucky teacher would spend two days as our family's guest before conveying her to Hogwarts, as well as the Christmas holidays. Well, Pap and Corrie figured something might happen between your dad and Bel, and since Bel was mature enough to decide what she wanted, the wrote to Dumbledore saying that _if_ something were to happen between them, he was not to interfere other than to suggest discretion, and to tell Bel anything about his past that she might need to know about before things got too serious between them. That's when, I'm guessing, he told her about your mother, you, and his past. She flooed me afterwards, and on her next Hogsmeade day, she, Dale, and I holed up in the Shrieking Shack and talked it out."

"What was she like in school?"

"Quiet, hardworking, liked to play the occasional prank. I think she was probably better in potions than she let on, and she played quidditch."

"What positions? I play seeker."

"Usually either seeker or beater. She was team captain her sixth and seventh years. That's how I met Bill and Charlie Weasley." He magically dried the staining on the box, and started preparing to paint a design on the lid.

"What do you know about Dad?"

"Well, I know that he loved both your mother and my sister very much. He feels things much more deeply than he lets on. He likes to read, do experiments and research, and to brew. He's a good flier; he was able to get through the Forest Run on the second try. Usually takes most five or six."

"What is the Forest Run?" Harry broke in.

"Well, Gray Mountain is a disillusioned wizarding town bordering the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Forest Run is a maze of trees on the Tennessee side created by a crazy ancestor of ours. You have to be a damn good flier to get through it without breaking something. Lots of switchbacks and hairpin turns through there. We took him out on it when he came with Bel for Christmas. Which reminds me, I want to tell you the story of how he earned all the brothers' and Bertie's respect.

"How?" Harry asked.

"Well, we hace one family member we don't like, our Aunt Grace, Mam's sister. Not even Mam likes her, which is pretty bad. She has to defer to Mam since she's head of the clan, so her word is law for the family. Career, marriage, relationships, all have to meet Mam's approval. Not hard to do, since she only disapproves if it's illegal, morally bankrupt, or in the case of relationships and marriage, she detects falseness, potential cruelty, or their backgrounds don't check out. Well, unbeknownst to us, Kingston, Levi, and Marshall had…"

"Please don't tell that story," Severus said, his face red. To Harry, he sounded horribly embarrassed.

"Why not? Sure, it sucked for you, but you had all our respect for doing what you did.

"It was beyond my control, and she was in the way."

"Regardless, it was beautiful. Aunt Grace got her comeuppance in blazing Technicolor."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, as I was saying, the youngest three boys had brought home the last vestiges of the stomach flu from hell. Well, your dad hadn't been feeling good all day, but he and Bel had just chalked it up to nerves. Anyway, we were all sitting in the parlor when your dad gets up and starts to run from the room. Aunt Grace didn't like that too much, so she gets in front of him and starts to yell at him for rudeness. About three words in, he throws up all over her, then runs out of the room. Well, Bel follows him to make sure he's all right. Aunt Grace opens her mouth and starts to complain, so Mam walks over, casts a silencing charm on her, and says, 'Grace, for the love of Merlin, shut the hell up! You ought to have more sense than that, to stop somebody from running out of a room. You deserved everything you got. Now go and get yourself cleaned up. You're dripping, and you're starting to stink worse than you already do." She then propelled the old hag out of the room. After we knew he was all right, just the stomach flu, us boys all went down in the woods and had a drink in his honor, and Aunt Grace kept her mouth shut for the rest of the holidays."

"And now, since he's told that story," Severus said. "I'm going to tell the one about the time Ev was scared by a kitten."

Everett groaned and laid his head down on the table. "I didn't think you'd remember _that_ one!"

"You'll find that I have a _very_ good memory," Severus said, smirking.

That story kept them occupied until lunch, after which Everett went off to go find Dale and stop him from decorating his office and his side of their quarters. "If I don't," he said, "he'll make it do things like_ match_ and be in country cottage or some other god-awful style." He rolled his eyes as he left Snape and Harry.

Severus turned to his son. "We're going down to my quarters so that you can have a say in how your room is done. Then, you're going to get started on the homework that I am sure has been let slide. How much of it do you have left?" His gaze told Harry that he would know if he lied, even a little bit.

"Just one of the potions essays, the charms essay, and the defense pre-test that Dale and Everett owled everybody last week." He had been working on the assignments with Ron and Hermione in the evenings.

"Good. You should be done by tomorrow night at the latest. Then you'll have the rest of the time free for whatever takes your interest. I have to start brewing stock potions for the Hospital Wing. Poppy's latest inventory was depressing, to say the least. Perhaps, if you were to assist me, we could be done with enough time left over to do something…fun?"

"Okay." He wasn't sure what his father's idea of "fun" was, but whatever it was, it was bound to be interesting.

By this time, they were in front of a portrait of a kind-looking old man holding a dog.

"Purgatorio." The old man smiled benignly, and the portrait swung open. Harry and Severus stepped into the room.

Harry was surprised. The living area was a haven of blues and greens, a theme that seemed to carry out through the rest of Severus' quarters. There were bookshelves on all of the walls.

"Most of the books are safe for you to read. I've warded the ones that are not so that they will not open to you." He led Harry through the kitchen and down the hall. "That is my private lab. I do not want you in there without me unless it is an emergency. That is my room, and the next door is the bathroom."

Finally, they reached the end of the hallway. "This is your room, Harry. It's still decorated the same way that Bel decorated it, since she frequently stayed here while we were doing research. I've never redecorated it, even though Draco has stayed here occasionally."

"Malfoy?"

"He _is_ my godson, after all." He smirked at Harry's uncomfortable look. "He's not as bad as he makes himself out to be, Harry. He's trapped in a role, just as I am. He _can_ keep his mouth shut if he knows it's important. He's managed to keep to himself about Bel, that I'm half-blood, and that I'm allergic to avocados. Overall, he's not a bad person, just lacking in the strength and confidence to break away from all he's been taught. He knows in his heart that the way he has to act is wrong, but he's in the position of having to act that way to keep his father from being punished, since the Dark Lord often punishes the parents for the child's so-called indiscretions. I know the two of you cannot be friendly publicly, but maybe the two of you could try to be civil to each other in private, hmm?"

"I can try."

"Good. That is all I ask." He opened the door to the room.

Harry was surprised. He had been expecting something very, well, _feminine_. This was not. The furniture was dark cherry, the carpet a deep blue, the walls a pale blue with white striping, and the ceiling was white. There were red curtains on the bed, and the bedspread and pillows were the same deep blue as the carpet.

"You know, I kind of like it as is," Harry said.

"I'm glad. I'll leave you to unpack and start on those assignments. I'll be in my lab if you need anything."

"Sure, Dad."

Harry took a better look around the room. On the bookshelf were some books about physics, statistics, research theory, wizarding law and ethics, defensive magic, and two slim volumes on protective magic and empathic healing. There were also several spiral notebooks and two photo albums.

Harry pulled the notebooks out and started to look through them. The first two were statistical analyses of some experiments, detailed in neat script. Some of the others contained notes on how time-turners worked and how protective magic worked. He set those aside to read later. The next one was actually a thick sketchbook. Harry opened it. The first page was a drawing of his father writing on a blackboard. The next was of Everett with safety goggles on, holding a beaker and pouring the contents of a test tube into it. The next was of somebody, probably another of Bel's brothers, named Alvin, with a guitar.

Harry then turned to the photo albums. He decided that he would look at those later. He went over to the closet and opened it, expecting it to be empty.

There were a few articles of clothing: four sweaters, one each in blue, deep orange, dark green, and brown, several button down shirts in both solid colors and checks, four pairs of slacks, two pairs of jeans, and two skirts. _Bel's things. They're there as though Dad expects her to return tomorrow._ Harry inconspicuously looked at the size of some of them. _She was obviously fairly tall. Taller than Mum was, anyway. Not surprising, since the two brothers I have seen, as well as their father, are tall. Slender, but not skinny. More athletic than anything._ He pushed the clothing over to the far side of the closet and hung up his few things. He'd have to remember to get some extra money out to get some new things, since most of his pants were too short, and his school uniform shirts were too tight about the shoulders.

He looked at his assembled books with an air of resignation. _Might as well get to it, since the sooner I get it done, the sooner I can satisfy my curiosity about those books._

He debated whether to do the potions essay or the charms essay first. He was going to save the defense pre-test for last, since it appeared to be the easiest. _Three feet on the Somnus Clemens potion versus two feet on the featherweight charm._

He decided on the potions essay, diving into the text, all the while outlining his essay on a piece of scratch parchment. Then he started on the essay.

He was just finishing the last paragraph when he heard a knock at the door. "Come in," he said, not looking up.

"I never realized that you were so cocky about safety that you'd tell somebody to come in without seeing who it was."


	11. Chapter 11

**Nope, not mine.**

**AN:** Perhaps I should have been a bit clearer. Chapters 10-12 are a division of one very long chapter. Otherwise, I'd have this long 6000+ chapter that would take me much longer to type and that would bog everybody down in the reading of it.

Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorway, looking very amused.

"Hello, Malfoy," Harry replied.

Draco walked over and sat down next to Harry. "Did Sev give you the same speech he did me? About how we should try to be civil to each other in private. I'm willing to try if you are."

"I am."

"I wonder why he's asking us to do this, though? He said he had some big news for me, but that I'd have to take an Unbreakable Oath before he told me. Do you know anything about what that's all about?"

"Yeah, I do. Believe me, it's big, and could put him in a lot of danger, so if you want to know, take the oath."

"Must be big then. I'm more than willing to keep quiet. So, do you plan on playing quidditch this year?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. I saw that we have a new defense teacher again this year. That pre-test was tough. What'd you think?"

"I've not done it yet, but I've looked at it, and it didn't seem too horrible. I think they just want to see where we are."

"Yeah. They've changed the text too. I'm glad. The old one put me to sleep, and Lockhart's was bullshit. Sev said I'd meet them tonight at dinner. Their sister used to stay here sometimes. She was pretty interesting. What do you think of them?"

"I like them so far. Dale's really quiet, but really nice, and Everett's really funny."

"Wonder if they're anything like Bel was. Sev doesn't know it, but I know that there was something going on between them. Once, when he thought I was asleep, I saw them snogging on the couch. Father would have shit bricks if he knew about that, and that she was the one that introduced me to math."

"Math? Do you have to kind of keep that to yourself?"

"Yeah, since it's borderline Muggle. Father tolerates it, since he secretly likes it himself. It goes over Mother's head. I think it's fun. Almost as fun as quidditch."

"I always liked history better. Binns sucks all the fun out of it, though."

"Too true. Crabbe calls it History of Naps instead of History of Magic. He secretly devours Muggle history books when he can get hold of them."

"He can read?" Harry gaped in shock.

"Actually, he likes to read. He just _acts_ dumber than he is so that his parents don't expect as much from him. It seems to be working. They're not pushing him to lick Old Moldy's boots yet. They're pushing him to be my personal wingman instead. Which is fine with him, since we actually like each other, and if it's one more that doesn't take the Mark, that's fine with me."

"And Goyle."

"Truly is as dumb as he looks. He's nice enough, and has plenty of common sense, though. He's angling towards learning Hagrid's job for when or if he retires or decides to do something else. He'd be good at anything requiring patience and little human interaction."

"What about the others?"

"Quite a few of the Slytherins actually _believe_ the ideology their parents have embraced. Parkinson and Nott for two. Zambini's never really come out one way or the other. Millie's more like Crabbe, Goyle, and me. She thinks a lot of it's bullshit."

"Especially considering that Voldemort is half-blood," Harry said, putting away his potions book and completed essay.

"Really? Wow. Now that's a real twist."

"Yeah. Say, why haven't you…"

"…come out about all of this before? Figured you'd ask. Because it's expected of me to uphold the pureblood ideal. Father's a pretty high-ranking Death Eater, and if I act the way I do, it keeps him from being crucio-ed as much. Deep down, I sometimes think he regrets joining to begin with." He looked extremely sad and far older than he was for a moment. "You _have_ to win this war, Harry. You, and only you, can stop that madman from taking over."

"He reminds me of Hitler," Harry said, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Selling people a solution, an ideal, creating scapegoats, eliminating opposition by killing them, indoctrinating the youth, and both a genius and completely deranged."

"That's him all right," Draco replied. "Seriously, I don't think Father's going to survive _this_ war. It's breaking him apart. This incarnation of Old Moldy is even crazier than the original. His raids certainly are less discriminatory, and much more violent. After meetings and raids, I've heard Father either sobbing or throwing up in the bathroom, even though he runs the water to try and keep anyone from hearing, and several times, I've caught him washing his hands until they bleed." He turned away from Harry for a moment, taking several deep breaths to regain his composure. "I've never told anyone about this, not even Sev, and I tell him everything. Mother tries, but she can't really do much. She doesn't completely buy it either, but she's not strong enough to break away. She always admired Andromeda and Sirius for doing that, but was scared of the consequences. She saw her parents beat Andromeda within an inch of her life, throw her off the property, and burn anything they could find tied to her, all for daring to fall in love with a muggle-born, and she saw Sirius go through the same thing, just for being different. Kind of sucked that he pulled all that shit later on."

"This goes no further, right?" At Draco's nod, Harry went on. "Sirius is innocent. Wormtail betrayed everyone that night."

Draco shuddered. "That ugly rat makes me want to go take a shower every time I see him. He's Old Moldy's personal bootlicker, nursemaid, and, if the rumors are true, bitch."

"Ew. That's one image I _don't_ need."

"Me either. Anyway, Mother helps Andromeda on the sly. Father pretends not to notice. They use Eugene Cummings as a go-between, since, even though Department Head Cummings is very much against both Voldemort's and Crouch and Fudge's politics, he is too powerful and knows too much about either side for them to risk alienating him completely, and too popular for either to have him disposed of. He was a Slytherin, one of the good ones, and his wife, Alyce, was a Ravenclaw. Their son, Richard, was the one my mother truly loved, but she was betrothed to my father, and Richard died her seventh year in an explosion in Surrey. Their oldest daughter was the same year as my father. She lives in Japan, and is, from what I hear, married to a fox demon. Their second daughter, Olivia, was a year behind my mother, and was deemed a 'suitable' companion for her. She's actually my godmother. The youngest daughter, Jade, is a mediwitch. They say Cummings is biding his time and gathering his forces to clean the ministry from top to bottom, starting with him running for Minister of Magic. I think it would be a welcome change. His department has no history, since he's been head of it, of corruption, bribe-taking, or other such things. The only other Department Head that I can say that about is Arthur Weasley."

"How do you know all of this?" Harry asked, astonished.

"I do my homework, and so do Crabbe and Millie. Crabbe wants to go into the Ministry and work his way up in the legal department, even if it means sacrificing any inheritance. Mille hates that she has to turn her back on her family when she's at school, since she's muggle-born. Speaking of Millie, I saw her a couple of days ago, and the summer has really been good to her. You know how she was a total dog our second year? Well, she's lost weight, gotten taller, begun to develop a little, and has gotten her hair cut better. I almost didn't recognize her."

"Well, that's good. So, anything going on between you two?"

"Nope, would be like dating my sister. Besides, I'm betrothed to Parkinson of all people." He looked like he wanted to throw up at the thought. "Cummings wants to outlaw betrothals and make it retroactive to 1975. Any that an arranged marriage didn't work out for would be given an annulment with even division of assets. He refused to betroth his own children, even though there were several offers. What about you and Granger?"

"Not sure really. I like her—she's very smart, and always has your back, but everyone assumes she's going to be with Ron, and that I'm going to be with Ginny. I like Ginny, don't get me wrong, but it's not like that. Sometimes she can't get past the whole 'boy-who-lived' thing to see just me, Harry. To Hermione, I've always been Harry, nothing more, nothing less."

"Sounds like we're in a similar situation, then. I like a girl, but could never talk to her publicly, since she's a Ravenclaw, and her parents were on the other side in the first war."

"Who is she? What's she like?"

"Very random, a bit strange in most people's opinion, since she doesn't see the world the same way that we do, but she's funny, caring, and sees people for who they are. Her name is…"

A knock at the door interrupted him. "Harry, Draco, if the two of you haven't managed to kill each other, it's time to go to dinner," Severus said through the door.

Harry and Draco grinned at each other and followed Severus to the Great Hall.

The only people in the Great Hall were Dumbledore, Dale, Everett, and Remus. Dumbledore was the first to speak. "Dr. Latham, Mr. Latham, this is another of your future studens, Draco Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy, these are your new defense teachers."

"Nice to meet you," Everett said. Dale smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. "You can call me Everett in private, and you can call him Dale."

Draco nodded. These were two of the more _interesting_ people he had met. For one thing, they didn't wear robes. Everett was wearing jeans and a faded Rolling Stones t-shirt, and Dale was wearing khaki pants and a forest green polo shirt.

"Do you want to do the oath before or after we eat?" Severus asked Draco.

"Before, so we can get it over with. I'm really curious as to what's so big as to require this."

"Alright. Headmaster, is the place secure?"

"It is. I will be the binder."

Draco and Severus placed their arms against each other to be bound.

"Do you, Draco Malfoy, swear not to discuss what is about to be told to you with anyone other than those two that is concerns the most, the people now present, and those on an automatically expanding list that you will receive."

"I swear." Dumbledore tapped his wand once, and a band appeared.

"Do you swear to support the two people that it involves most by guarding any information that they impart to you closely, as well as providing moral and emotional support in private?"

"I swear." Another band appeared.

"Do you swear to support the elimination of Voldemort?"

"I swear." Another band, and the oath was complete.

"All right," Severus said. "Sit down, Draco. This is really big. You see, first off, I'm the spy."

"I suspected that," Draco replied.

"Also, my memories were modified from my fifth year onward. I have recently had my memories returned to their original state. In reality, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black, and Lily Evans were my closest friends, starting from about halfway through our sixth year. I dated, and subsequently married, Lily Evans. Later, we found out that Lily was pregnant. Shortly thereafter, my position in the war became precarious, so my memories were modified and Lily and James held a mock wedding. The child was born seven months later." Draco's eyes widened and he was staring at Harry. "Draco, Harry is my son," Severus finished.

Draco gaped openly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Still not mine.**

"You weren't kidding when you said it was big." Draco gave Harry and Severus a shrewd look. "You two might not want to stand too close to each other in public. It makes the resemblance more obvious. It's enough of a resemblance that I can tell the two of you are related, though not how closely."

"The glamours haven't completely faded," Harry said. "They won't completely fade for another two years."

"A lot of planning went into this," Draco observed. "Good thing, too, since when the glamours completely wear off, other than a few differences such as eye color, nose shape, and height, you two will heavily resemble each other."

Harry and Severus looked at each other, neither of them thinking that would be a bad thing.

The rest of the meal went smoothly. Draco bombarded Dale and Everett with questions, which they answered to the best of their ability. He was finding that a lot of planning went into ward-building and modifying, and quite a bit of mathematics.

"You have to know how big the space you are warding is, and visualize that space. I can teach you and Harry to ward small things, such as boxes, notebooks, letters, and such. The big stuff, you have to be of age for safety reasons," Everett said. "I'll assign you some basic mathematical equations, mostly algebra and geometry, since you need to be able to form and solve equations quicly, and the only way you can be able to do that is to do them until you can do them in your sleep."

At that, Draco looked like Christmas had come early.

"It probably wouldn't be safe to make it public knowledge," Dale said. "It would compromise Draco's role in all of this."

"Detentions," Severus said.

"Right," Everett said, smiling lightly. "The first day of class, I give him a series of detentions for some offense. I'll give him the lessons during those detentions. Harry can conveniently wander in during them, I'll copy out an assignment for the two of you to do. It'll have a lot of stuff in it, some of which I don't expect you to know. I just want to see where you are. The defense pre-test for fifth years should bring you up to speed in that area. We're not grading them for points. Dale and I just want to see what each year has attained and actually _retained_ in the way of defense knowledge. I'm willing to wager that in the past six years, Remus here's been the only halfway decent teacher y'all have had."

Remus looked down at his plate and blushed as everyone around him nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, an owl flew in and dropped a letter in front of Dumbledore. He opened it, read it, then put it down, looking very grave.

"I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that the Ministry approved my appointments for the defense position. The bad news is that seven of Tom's best have broken out of Azkaban. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange to name two. The somewhat good news is that Eugene Cummings is demanding, and getting, with the support of Arthur Weasley, Ted Tonks, Alastor Moody, and several others, a full investigation into Crouch and Fudge's dealings for the past twenty or so years. What they have uncovered so far reveals a web of corruption, shady deals, and deception."

"That is hardly surprising," Severus said. "Crouch and Fudge twisted the law to suit their own ends many times over. Things such as denying Sirius a trial, failing to investigate Jorkins' disappearance, and the whole debacle with the dementors, to name a few."

Harry and Draco decided to go off by themselves to continue their conversation. After telling the adults present, they set out to find a secure location.

"Room of Requirement?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded. "Yes. We need a place where we won't be overheard."

Oncethey had gotten into the room, Harry asked, "So, who is the girl?"

"Luna Lovegood. Her father's editor of _The Quibbler_. She's brilliant--her grades rival mine and Granger's, she just doesn't look at the world the same way that we do."

"That's true. Sometimes you need that, though."

"Yeah." He leaned back on his cushioned chair and gave Harry a wry grin. "What shall I do on the first day to get those detentions?"

"Call Hermione the m-word?"

"Maybe, if I knew she wouldn't hex me into next week. She's dangerous with those hexes."

"I think I can take care of that. I'll see her before school starts."

Draco nodded. "See that you do. I have no desire to be a ferret again unless it is as an animagi."

The two talked aout other subjects until the time came for them to return.

"You know, Harry," Draco said. "I can keep you abreast of what is going on in Slytherin."

"For what price?"

"Playing along with and enhancing our hatred of each other in public, and being my friend in private."

"I can do that."

Both went back feeling that they had gained a valuable ally in the fight.


	13. Chapter 13

**Most certainly not mine.**

AN: I'm also writing a prequel to this called "Mending Broken Glass". It goes into how the friendship between Severus, James, Sirius, and Remus begins after the Shrieking Shack incident, and will be the first chronologically in a series of stories in this universe. There's going to be a second prequel that is very Bel-centric, then the sequel.

Diagon Alley was a bustling mess. It was August 29th, and every student of Hogwarts seemed to be there to buy text books and supplies.

Harry and Severus had returned to Grimmauld Place after a very interesting couple of days. the first full day, Harry finished his homework, then worked with Draco on the problems that Everett had assigned. Draco had already surmised that Dale was Everett's restraining influence, since Everett often showed unbounded enthusiasm over the most mundane things, and that Dale and Remus were a couple, though neither of them overtly advertised it. It showed more in their comfort level around each other and they way they talked to each other.

On the second full day, Severus, Everett, Draco, and Harry were in Severus' lab brewing potions for the Hospital wing. Harry and Draco handled the simpler potions, while Severus and Everett worked on the more complicated ones. Working together, they had gotten what usually took Severus a week to do alone done in one day.

On the third day, Harry dragged Draco along to see Hagrid, who, as it turned out, had known all along.

"I told ya 'e wasn' a bad man, 'arry," he said, moving the kettle off of the fire. "I jus' couldn' tell ya 'til his memories started comin' back on their own. Snape's been through 'ell, he has. Life's never been fair or kind to 'im, lemme tell ya."

"What happened?" Harry asked. "I know bad things have happened to him, and that they still bother him, but nobody will tell me."

"Tis 'ardly surprisin'," Hagrid replied, shaking his head. "'e don' like to talk 'bout it much."

"I know some, but not all of it," Draco said softly. "I overheard him and Father talking once when I was little. Father was terrified of becoming his father where I was concerned, and Sev told him that he was nothing like his father because he worried about it."

"True, true," Hagrid said. "Your father is kindness compared to Caspar Malfoy. 'arry, 'e was a beaten child. Ev'ry year 'ed come back with new bruises, barely 'ealed broken bones, and skinnier than when 'ed left. Your mum was always terrified that each year 'ed leave would be 'is last. Twas good, really, when Black, James, and Lupin stopped givin' im grief and decided to reach out to 'im instead. They gave 'im something that, prior to that only three people: 'is mum, your mum, and Lucius Malfoy 'ad given 'im."

"What was that?" Harry asked, his heart aching. His mind pictured a skinny, long-haired boy standing almost totally alone against the world.

"Acceptance. Friendship. Love. People who've been beaten down desperately crave love, 'arry. Anyway, the summer before seventh year was nearly 'is last. 'is father beat 'im almost daily. Your mum, in desperation, owled James, an 'is mum invited 'em to stay for the rest of the summer. James, Black, Lupin, and I, who was sent by Dumbledore, who James' mum 'ad forwarded the letter to, converged on the 'ouse. 'e was nothin but skin and bones, 'arry, and so bruised up that ya couldn' tell where the bruises ended and 'e began. 'e stayed with the Potters for the rest of the summer. Took 'im well on into the year for 'im to recover. 'e was broken down, so 'e was sick almost all the time. Each of 'em would copy their notes in their best subjects so 'e wouldn' fall behind, and there was always one of 'em there with 'im when 'e was with Poppy."

Harry had tears streaming down his face.

"That be yer power, 'arry," Hagrid said. "Love and compassion. You-Know-Who has no understandin' of either, and it'll be that that'll destroy 'im."

Harry nodded, fumbling for a handkerchief. He found one and wiped his eyes. _Dad certainly has plenty of material for his nightmares._

When they went back to the castle, Harry had already resolved to not bring anything he had learned up unless his father did. It was too deeply personal, and he likely wouldn't even tell Ron and Hermione.

Draco was surprised that Harry always went and woke his father from his nightmares, and on the one occasion that he started sleepwalking, just went and calmly led him back to bed, all without a trace of irritation or any sort of complaint.

"You're a better man than I am, Harry," he said as Harry climbed back into bed.

"It's not fair to leave somebody like that," Harry said sleepily. "He's been having them every night since his memory was restored. Some nights are worse than others. Siri said he's realizing Mum's dead all over again, and then he was given hope about Bel, though it'll be four to six years before she'll be able to come back. Remus said they'll decrease in frequency, though they'll never completely go away."

Severus had wanted to accompay Harry to Diagon Alley to buy his textbooks, but had not been sure how to do it without endangering the two of them, until Everett offered a solution.

"It's an experimental polyjuice potion. Jim and I have been working on it for about ten years. We just got it right about eight months ago. It'll last about twelve hours, more than long enough for you to do what you want to do. This batch is Jim's."

Severus nodded and took a dose of the potion. Jim and Everett were two of the only fellow experimenters whose work he would take at face value.

Immediately he began to shrink and widen, his hair began to lighten to a medium brown and shorten to about an inch long, his eye color changed to a cerulean blue, his nose shortened and straightened, and his voice rose to a tenor.

"For now, you're Dr. James Leonard Latham, circa 1990. Get used to it, 'cause you're going to look like that for the next twelve hours.

So they had gone to Diagon Alley, Severus as Jim, Remus, Dale, and Everett.

They were almost done with their purchases when screams broke out through the crowded marketplace.

Death Eaters were mowing through the crowd and moving towards them. "Stay low," Severus said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione as he went out to fight, Remus, Dale, and Everett joining him.

Harry watched from a recessed doorway as they fought with the Death Eaters. Suddenly, he saw his father go down, blood pouring from his side.

"_Protego Reflecti!_" Harry shouted, focusing on his father. The next spell that the Death Eater cast bounced off of the shield and back on the caster, killing him instead.

Within minutes, the Death Eaters had fled from the swarm of Aurors and mediwitches and mediwizards, and Everett approached a weeping Harry, who Ron and Hermione were awkwardly trying to console.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Everett said. "Dales making a Portkey to take us back to the Meeting Place, and I'm going to floo Jim and Bruce and have them look at it, since they're going to have their hands full at both Hogwarts and St. Mungo's. He'll be okay, Harry. You'll see." He didn't sound completely sure himself.

As soon as they got back, Everett went over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder in and shouted, "Dr. James L. Latham's office."

"Jim! Start getting your ass over here while I floo Bruce. He's still in Boston, right? Sev's messed up pretty bad, and it's a madhouse over here. He needs more than what a field medic like Dale can do."

"Yeah, Bruce's there. Standard kit?"

"Better make it advanced. Just get over here as fast as you can."


	14. Chapter 14

**Nope, still not mine.**

Within half an hour, Jim had arrived.

"Bruce'll be here in about ten," he said crisply. "Where is he? I can at least see the damage and get started. How's Harry?"

"He's in the kitchen," Everett said, leading Jim into the kitchen. "The only potions Dale's given him are blood replenishers and charms to control the bleeding. Harry's pretty tore up. They've only known about each other for about a month. Dale gave him a calming draught, and he's with his godfather, Dale's boyfriend, and his two best friends right now."

"Dale's off the market, eh? Let's get this fixed, then I'd like to meet him." Jim grasped the hand of the still form on the table. "Sev? If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." The hand closed around his fingers. "Good. Bruce'll be along in a few to help me out. I'm going to take a look at you now. I'm going to be touching your side." With one hand, he began gingerly feeling the area around the wounds while also running diagnostic spells. While he was doing that, Bruce came in. He looked like an older, stockier version of Everett.

"What've you got Jim?" he asked, all business.

"Nearly all the left side's ribs are broken. Looks like a flail chest on the left, as well as a sucking wound. Missed the heart. Three broken ribs on the right. Lacerated liver. Might be bleeding in the spleen. Nicked bowel. Moderate concussion. Broken humerus, two places. Broken femur. Both of those on the left."

"Well, let's start with the bleeding first. You check the spleen. I'll take the liver. Dale," Bruce nodded at his taciturn younger sibling, "you monitor. Tell us if anything new pops up."

The three brothers dove into the work of putting Severus back together again.

Upstairs, Harry, even under the influence of the calming draught, was frantic with worry. he was pacing the length of the room, and was on the verge of crying again. Neither Ron nor Hermione were really sure how to console him, other than just by being there.

Finally, Remus and Sirius both put their hands on his shoulders and made him sit down. "Sit," Sirius said firmly. "You won't do him any good by wearing yourself into a state of collapse."

"What if I lose him, Siri? I just found him. There's so much we haven't covered yet.'

"Have a little faith in him, Harry," Remus said. "Your father is a very stubborn man. There's no way he'd give up, especially now that he has you."

Just then, Everett walked into the room. "I'm here to give a two-hour report. So far, everything looks good. Jim and Bruce have most of the bleeding stopped, so they're moving on to the broken bones." He winced as a hoarse scream drifted up the stairs. "I reckon they're setting his leg to mend it. They can't give him anything for pain yet because it would interfere with them monitoring the concussion." He went back downstairs.

"See, Harry," Sirius said. "He'll be okay."

Harry nodded. "I just want him to be okay, Siri."

The four, six, and eight hour reports were more encouraging. Finally, after ten hours, Dale, Everett, Jim, and Bruce walked into the room.

"He's resting comfortably now," Jim said. "We moved him into his room. He should take it easy for the next couple of weeks because he'll tire easily, and since we had to do so much repair work, he shouldn't do any lifting or apparate for about that long."

"Hopefully he won't be summoned in that time," Dale said softly, laying his head on Remus' shoulder. Remus put his arm around his boyfriend, laying his chin on his head.

"Merlin, I hope not," Bruce said. "I've got a full roster in a few hours, so I'm going to go ahead and head back to Boston. You got things here, Jim?"

"Yeah. I'm on leave, since June just had Elijah. Floo June for me after you get back. She'll want to know how Sev's doing. She'll handle the rest. I'm going to be heading over to St. Mungo's tomorrow to see if they need any help if she needs me."

Bruce nodded and went downstairs to floo out.

"Do you want to see him?" Jim asked. "He'll be bruised up and a little out of it, but just to reassure yourself?"

Harry nodded and Jim led him down the hall and into the bedroom he and his father shared.

Severus was lying on the bed. True to Jim's word, he was covered with bruises and looked, in muggle terms, pretty doped up. Harry immediately went over and grasped his hand. "Hey, Dad. How are you feeling?"

"Better, now that Jim and Bruce aren't poking around in my innards." He grinned. "This pain potion they gave me makes you feel really nice and floaty. No pain at all."

"That's good," Harry said. "I'm glad you're okay, Dad. You had me scared there for a bit."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm glad you mastered shielding somebody else. I saw that you took out Crabbe before I passed out. Now maybe his son can _act_ as bright as I know he is, since he won't be pressured to take the Mark, since Livy disagreed with her husband politically. I'm glad you didn't take out Lucius. Deep down, under the decades of class and blood predjudices that Caspar beat into him, there really is a good person in there. He was kind to me when I was in school. He and Rick Cummings kept the other boys in my house from picking on me so much. They even made,before I became friends with all of them except Peter, the Marauders' abuse bearable. Rick's sister, Jade, was friends with both your mother and with Bel. I didn't know it until recently, but Bel and your mother were actually somewhat friends through Jade. You actually met Bel a few times before your mother and James went into hiding. Bel was comfortable around small children, since..."

Whatever he was going to say next was lost as he fell asleep. Harry pulled the blankets up around his father's shoulders and smoothed the hair away from his face. "Sleep well, Dad. I hope your dreams are nice ones for once."

"I forgot to mention that the pain potion would make him very talkative for a bit," Jim said. "Now," he said, sitting down, "what can you tell me about the man that has stolen my big brother's heart?"

"Remus? He's one of the kindest and most patient people I know."

"Good. I have no desire to see Dale get hurt again. A lot of the men he's dated have been cruel to him, since he's quiet and painfully shy. Ev beat the crap out of the last one, after he beat on Dale after drinking one night. Nobody hurts one of our brothers or sisters and gets away with it."

"You don't have to worry about any of that. The most you have to worry about is his monthly furry little problem."

"Lycanthropy? I'll assume he's already told Dale. Lycans are extremely faithful and protective of those they choose to be with. I assume he's on wolfsbane?"

Harry nodded. "Dad's the one that brews it for him."

"Good. The only others whose wolfsbane I trust are Ev's or mine. Bruce can patch somebody up like nobody's business, but he positively sucks at brewing. Carl's more into studying the effects of potions on the body than actual brewing. He's studying the biochemical components behind the addiction to certain potions. Does Remus have any addictions I need to know about?"

"Only if you count chocolate," Harry replied, laughing softly. "He'll do just about anything for chocolate. In fact, that's how Dale asked him out. Chocolates and a note."

Jim chuckled. "He must be special then, for Dale to do the asking. Does he enter into relationships lightly?"

"No. I think he's been hurt before. You'd be better off asking him or Sirius about his relationship history. I'll just say that Remus is one of the nicest people I've ever met, and if he loves somebody, he _means_ it."

"Good. I'm satisfied. They look happy together, and comfortable with each other. Now get some sleep, Harry. Do you need a sleeping draught?"

"No. I need to be able to wake up if Dad needs anything."

"He'll sleep for the next twelve hours or so, Harry."

"I'll still need to wake up if he has a nightmare," Harry said, yawning.

Jim nodded. "The pain potion can't prevent those. I'm going to find Dale and tell him that I approve of his partner."

Harry nodded as Jim left. He then got ready for bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	15. Chapter 15

**Still not mine.**

It was September first, and today Harry was going with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George to catch the Hogwarts Express. They were being conveyed there by Molly and Arthur Weasley.

Severus, Dale, and Everett had flooed to Hogwarts earlier that morning. Jim had, after a thorough exam, declared Severus fit, for his teaching duties anyway.

"I don't want you going out and taking curses, that's for sure," Jim said. "At least not for two weeks. And for the love of Merlin, if you feel that leg start to give, _sit down!_ Skele-gro only does so much. Bruce and I had to do some stuff by hand, since it was a compound fracture. Also, if you start feeling feverish, nauseous, or just plain not well, let somebody know. Hell, floo me in LA if you want to keep it private. Just _don't_ go and get yourself killed." He embraced the only slightly older man. "I don't have thirteen brothers including Dave, I have fourteen. Now get on with you."

Just before they were to leave, Severus pulled Harry into an empty room to talk with him.

"Harry, this past month has meant a great deal to me," he began. "You're a generous and compassionate young man who will go far in life. I hope that you'll come and see me every now and again during the term, maybe even spend the night sometimes if you can. Don't take personally the things I'll have to say to you in class. I really don't mean them." He sighed. "I guess what I'm really trying to say, Harry, is that I love you and I'm proud of you." _Even if you might not feel the same way. _Silent tears were coursing down his cheeks, though, since he was facing away from him, Harry couldn't see them.

"I _do_ feel the same way, Dad," Harry said. "I _do_ love you, and I admire the sacrifices you have made." He walked around until he was facing his father. Impulsively, he threw his arms around him. "You need to let this out, Dad, before it eats you up inside. I'm real, and I'm not going to suddenly turn on you." He felt the top of his head growing damp.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Severus asked hoarsely.

"I heard it almost as though you had said it," Harry replied, his grip on his father tightening. "You _never_ have to worry about me turning on you, or even turning my back on you. I intend to come and see you regularly." He frowned. "How will I know it's safe?"

Severus pulled a necklace off of his neck. It was silver, and the pendant was a silver snake with emerald eyes. He cast a charm over it, and then slipped it over Harry's head.

"Wear it under your shirts," Severus advised, his voice low and rough. "It will feel normal if it is safe for you to come. It will grow warm if I am ill or injured, and it will grow icy cold if it it dangerous for you to come."

"Thanks, Dad," Harry said. "Now get yourself cleaned up and go. I know you _hate_ being late." He gave his father a broad grin and was rewarded with a reluctant smile in return.

"Cheeky brat," Severus said with a great deal of amused affection as he left.

Harry noticed that the necklace felt warm. _It's because he's still recovering from his injuries._

Upstairs, he was cornered by Ron and Hermione.

"So, Harry," Ron began. "Wonder what we're going to be up against this year?"

"I think Voldemort's our biggest worry," Harry replied. "He's getting more overt. The attack on Diagon Alley," he paused and took a deep breath, "won't be the last."

"How _is_ your dad, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Seems weird to say that," Ron said. "I never thought I'd say this, but you and Snape are good for each other. Mum thought I'd lost my mind when I defended him, when she and Dad were first told."

"He's doing all right," Harry said. "Physically, anyways. Emotionally, it's still rough. He's always afraid that I'm going to suddenly decide to reject him. I think that I'm _finally_ starting to get it to sink in that I'm not going to do that. I'm going to stay with him some. He gave me a temperature-coded necklace. If it feels normal, everything's fine and I can come. If it's warm, he's sick or hurt. If it's cold, it's not safe for me to come."

"Practical," Hermione said. "You wouldn't want to walk in if he was entertaining a Death Eater guest."

"How does it feel now?" Ron asked.

"Warm, since he's still recovering from the attack." He then remembered something very important. "Hermione, if Draco Malfoy calls you the m-word on the first day of defense, do _not_ hex him. It's part of a pre-arranged signal."

"For what?" Hermione asked.

"He has to get detentions to learn warding and Chemistry, since he secretly loves math," Harry replied. "He and I have a private truce. Let's just say that the public Malfoy and the private Draco are to very different people. He _has_ to act the way he does, or his parents get crucio-ed. Simple as that."

Ron winced. "Makes me glad my parents were on the _other_ side of the war. I couldn't imagine if their well-being was determined by the way I acted. They'd be crucio-ed a lot, I figure. So Draco likes math. Next thing you'll tell me is that Crabbe and Goyle can read."

"Well, actually, Crabbe can. Apparently, he loves muggle history. Goyle's not particularly bright according to Draco, but nice enough." He sobered. "Go easy on Crabbe. It was his father that my spell bumped off. Even if it means that he can go into the job he really wants, and can pull the grades he's capable of, it was still his father."

"Man," Ron said. "War sucks, no matter which way you look at it."

"It sure does," Harry agreed.

While walking to Platform 9 ¾, Harry heard his name being called. He turned towards the voice.

It was Dudley. He had grown taller, and had lost about a stone, but Harry still recognized him. "Big D!" he said, grinning.

"Dad and I figured you'd be here," Dudley said. "We just wanted to see you again." He glanced over as Vernon, who had also lost weight, walked over.

"It's good to see you," Harry said. "How are things?"

"Well," Vernon began. "Petunia and I are divorcing. I moved out about a week after you left. I managed to get temporary custody of Dudley until the hearing, but my solicitor says that things look good to gain custody. You may be called to appear. How will I contact you?"

"Just leave a message with Mrs. Figg. She knows how to contact me, even if it's just to catch up. I can make the letters to where only we can read them."

"That's cool," Dudley said. "Maybe we can see you sometime. After everything's final, Dad's going to apply for a transfer to Scotland."

"That'd be cool," Harry said. "My school's in Scotland."

"Best be on your way, Harry," Vernon said, glancing at his watch. "Do well and take care of yourself.'

"I will, Uncle Vernon. Bye, Dudley." He turned and pushed himself and his cart through the barrier.

On the train, he Ron, and Hermione managed to get a car to themselves.

"So, what do you want to do when we get out of school, Harry?" Hermione asked. "It seems so far away, but it's going to be here before we know it."

"I really don't know. I thought I wanted to be an auror, but I don't take orders well. Professional quidditch is too unreliable, and I get enough grief from the media as it is. I may teach, like Dad. Not potions, though. It's okay, but it's not what I enjoy. I might shoot for the defense job, once we take care of Voldemort. What about you guys?"

"I kind of want to teach transfiguration or charms," Hermione said. "Or maybe apprentice myself to Madam Pomfrey."

"You've sure got the brains to do any of those, 'Mione," Ron said. "I think I'm going to work for the Ministry like Dad and Percy. When Percy removes his head from his ass, he's all right, and a hard worker. I think I actually want to work in the Accounting Department. It's steady work, and quiet, and I'll probably want that after we take care of …him."

Suddenly, Draco Malfoy poked his head into the car. He looked around frantically. "May I come in?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Close the door." He then used the charm his father had taught him to ward the car against any eavesdroppers.

Draco sat down. "How's Sev? Father didn't say much, other than that he was hurt in the attack."

"He's alright. Can't do much for the next couple of weeks, though."

Draco laughed softly. "That'll drive him crazy. It's almost impossible for him to sit still."

Harry laughed. "Too true. How's Crabbe?" he added remorsefully.

"As well as can be expected. He doesn't blame you. Said that in war, you do what you must. I haven't let him in on the secret."

"Don't. Not until it is necessary. How're your parents?"

"Father's getting worse, Harry. His guilt is going to kill him. He still puts up appearances in public and at Death Eater gatherings, but he's falling apart. It's tearing mother up. Some might say it's just punishment for his sins, but watching your father, who you know that in private, really isn't a bad man, throw up until he's coughing up blood, or curled up in the floor sobbing, and listening to your mother cry at night because the man she's come to love, if not like a husband, at least as a friend, is killing himself from the inside out isn't punishment, it's cruelty." The words tumbled out, and when he finished, Draco was turned away from them, struggling to regain control. When he turned back to face them, there were tears in his eyes. "Old Moldy's crazier than ever. He crucios his followers for even looking at him the wrong way now. Thank Merlin Crabbe is free from him. I hope that Goyle either gets free or you win this war soon."

Ron and Hermione looked like they were at a tennis match. When Draco started confessing his parents' state to Harry, they felt a surge of compassion for their fellow student. War really was unfair, and it was the children who were having to pay the price.

"What's going on in Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"I'm a prefect. Millie's the other. She's coming in here in a few minutes to give her report. She doesn't know the secret either."

"Good. Any news with the Voldemort supporters?"

"Parkinson and Nott are parroting what they've heard. Apparently, he's supposed to summon in a few days. He's planning something big. Zambini's come out against him. I'm meeting with him to hopefully gain him as an ally."

Harry winced. "Dad's not supposed to apparate for about two weeks."

"Shit. He's screwed any way he turns. Let's hope it's just an idle rumor. Now I've got to go help Millie with her rounds." He got up and left.

"Have we stepped into some strange alternate universe?" Hermione asked.

"No, we haven't. I wonder who the Gryffindor prefects are?"

Hermione and Ron looked guilty. "We are, Harry," Hermione said, indicating to Ron and herself. "I guess they figured you had enough on your plate with Voldemort being back and all."

"Yeah," Harry said. He was extremely relieved to not have been picked. It would have been even more unwanted attention. "I do have enough to do as it is. I need to establish contacts in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I want to know what's going on in all of the houses, since there are Voldemort supporters in _all_ of them, not just Slytherin."

Millicent Bulstrode poked her head in. "Can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure," Harry replied. She came in and sat down across from him.

Draco had been right about Millie being better looking. Ron was gaping at her until Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"Parkinson is a firm believer in Voldemorts politics," Millie began. "Leonore Cleaver, Ursula Kant, Cassiopeia Greybuck, and Meleusine Gagnon are with her. Myself, Julia Porter, Meredith Bridges, Elspeth Dane, Misty Sayne, and Lucinda Myers are against. Jane Bassett, Lisa Payne, and Nell Crowley are unknowns."

"Good. We have more supporters. Millie, since you're obviously with us, and one of my contacts in your house, I'm wondering if you would be willing to take un Unbreakable Oath. That's the only way I'll be able to tell you why I have a bigger stake in this than just being who I am."

"I'll take it," Millie said. "You're the key to ending all of this, and of me being able to be myself in my own house."

When the oath was finished, all Millie could say was, "Damn. That _is_ big. No wonder you want this war over so badly. Snape's a good head-of-house. He's very involved, and he tries to make us all strongly consider the consequences of our choices. He also has a _very_ strict no-bullying policy that he actually enforces. I definitely won't sell you out. I'll owl you my next report in a week unless something happens." She got up and left.

The rest of the ride to the school was uneventful. At the opening feast, Dumbledore began his usual announcements after the Sorting, with one new one: the N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts would meet four times a week instead of three. He then introduced Dale and Everett Latham as the new defense teachers. Harry almost burst out laughing as his father gave them a glare that he knew had no real malice behind it, and Dale responded with a benign smile and Everett responded with an amused look that very plainly said 'Screw you, Sev.' To Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who actually got the joke, it was funny. To the rest of the student body, it appeared to be the opening shots of World War III.

As Harry settled into Gryffindor Tower for the night, he realized that his necklace had cooled to where he almost didn't know it was there. _Dad must be feeling better_ was his last thought before he fell asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Not mine.**

September moved into October, and the students had settled into the rhythm of classes.

Harry had established male and female contacts in each of the houses. These contacts either met with him or owled him weekly reports. In Slytherin, his contacts were Draco Malfoy and Millicent Bulstrode. In Hufflepuff, his contacts were Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch-Fletchley, and in Ravenclaw, his contacts were Luna Lovegood and a blunt-spoken fourth-year named Hajime Kitsune. Though he was half-Japanese, he had bright red hair that rivalled Ron's.

"My mum sent me here for school," Hajime said by way of explanation. "Dumbledore's about the only Headmaster who will let people who aren't completely human into a school. My mum and aunts and uncles went here, and Grandad's got a great deal of respect for him."

"Not completely human?" Harry asked. "You look human enough to me."

"I'm half fox...demon would probably be the closest translation. My dad taught me how to hide the ears and the tail. My hearing and vision's a little better than yours, and I can smell what you're feeling. I can also morph into anyone that I've seen before, right down to their voices and gestures, and I can throw fireballs. My adoptive grandmother on my dad's side has taught me a lot of nonverbal spells as well as seals and such. See?" He took a sticky piece of paper with Japanese characters on it and stuck it on Ron's back. Until he removed it, Ron was unable to move. "Dad's a real prankster, so he likes to mess with people. That's how I got so good at morphing. Say, did you see today's Daily Prophet? Grandad's doing more housecleaning." He handed Harry and Ron the paper.

The headline stated: **Investigations Reveal More Corruption In The Ministry**. There was a picture of a careworn, grave iron-grey haired man Harry now knew to be Eugene Cummings inspecting papers. In the photograph also were Arthur Weasley and Ted Tonks, who were both plowing through boxes of papers. Occasionally, one or the other would bring something in on of the boxes to Cummings' attention.

Harry made a point of spending at least two nights a week with his father, leaving after his dormates had fallen asleep, and returning to the Common Room before they woke up, as well as visiting with him on two other nights. Due to the increasing frequency of Voldemort's meetings, Severus' nightmares were growing worse, and his classes learned quickly to steer clear of him.

"What crawled up _his_ ass and died?" Ron asked after one particularily grueling class.

"Room of Requirement, right after dinner," Harry replied, sighing. He was finally going to have to confide in Ron and Hermione about his father's emotional issues, or go mad himself.

After dinner, and after warding the room, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other.

"Look," Ron said, "we just want to know what's up with your dad. He's above and beyond what is normal snark for him in classes, and he looks like death warmed over."

"What Ron is _trying_ to say," Hermione said, "is that we're worried about the two of you."

Harry sighed. "Guys, the reason he's being such a grouch is that he's not really sleeping well or much. I started our first night. He has horrible nightmares, worse than mine have ever been. He either wakes up sobbing uncontrollably, screaming, or as soon as I wake him, he runs to the bathroom to throw up. It's gotten so bad that I've started staying three or four nights instead of two. In the past month, he's lost at least fifteen pounds, and he's not that heavy to begin with. On top of that, Voldemort's crucio-happy. Every time he gets crucio-ed, I feel the necklace burn against my chest. I'm _really_ worried about him, guys."

"What about Dreamless Sleep?" Ron asked.

"Won't work. He has breakthrough dreams on it, plus it gives him a funky hangover effect. And Somnus Clemens, the older version of Dreamless Sleep, gives him horrendous migraines."

"Shit. There's not much to suggest then," Ron said. "Any idea what they're about?"

"He was an abused child, from what Hagrid, Draco, Sirius, and Remus have told me, plus the things he's had to do as a Death Eater. Then there's Mum, Bel, and his fear that I'm either going to turn on him or get myself killed fighting Voldemort."

Hermione shook her head. "He sounds pretty tortured inside. He's going to wear himself down if he doesn't get some real sleep soon."

Two nights later, Harry woke up because the necklace was blazing hot, hotter than it had ever been. He shook Ron awake. "Ron," he hissed. "Wake up!"

"Huh?...whazza?" His eyes focused. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"My necklace is burning red hot. Something's wrong with Dad. Come on. I might need some help."

"Right. Come on, then."

Moving under the invisibility cloak, Harry and Ron made their way down to Severus' quarters, narrowly managing to avoid Filch and Mrs. Norris and McGonagall on her rounds.

When Harry and Ron reache the portrait, the old man said, "Good, boys, you're here. He's having a pretty miserable time of it. Password?"

"Purgatorio," Harry said.

"Good lad." The portrait swung open, and Harry and Ron walked in.

Throwing off the cloak, Harry and Ron looked around. "Dad?" Harry called out. "Are you all right?" There was no response. Harry and Ron went through the living room and kitchen, wands drawn.

"I'll check the bedroom, you check the bathroom," Harry said. The neckace was burning red hot.

"Right." Harry went into the bedroom. Seconds later, he heard Ron call out his name.

Ron had found Severus. He was huddled in a miserable ball in the bathroom floor, shivering. He was barely conscious, his eyes glazed with fever.

Harry laid a hand on his father's forehead, then jerked it back. "He's burning up," he said to Ron. "Let's get him into bed, then get Pomfrey."

"Right," Ron said, getting ready to levitate Severus to the bedroom. As he was about to do so, Harry saw it.

"Ron, go get Pomfrey. Now!" His face was white, and he was pointing to a bloody towel. "Run as fast as you can."

Ron, his face an odd shade of green, nodded. That much blood was _never_ good, regardless of the cause. He raced out.

Harry scanned his fathers body, but saw no wounds. _That blood had to come from somewhere. That means he's either..._ "Oh, shit."

Severus had regained enough in the way of consciousness to start throwing up into the toilet. Harry was no medic, but he knew blood when he saw it.

"What happened?" he asked when his father finally stopped.

"James? Where's Siri and Remus?" Severus asked, slurring his words a bit. He squinted and shook his head, as though trying to force his mind to focus. "Harry, not James. Harry. My son. Was Ron with you? I kind of remember the hair."

"Yeah, he was with me. He went to go get Pomfrey."

"How did you get here? I was hit with a few crucios and a new hex was tested on me at the last meeting. Maybe that's why I'm so queasy and dizzy." He closed his eyes, and Harry had the presence of mind to realize that he needed to keep him talking.

"How did you become friends with James, Sirius, and Remus?"

"James, because he was grouped with me, Lily, and Olivia Cummings, now Crabbe, on a defense project. That was about two weeks before the Shrieking Shack. Sirius and Remus, a couple of days after." He was forcing himself to remain conscious, sensing that Harry was asking personal questions to keep him talking."Remus stopped by to see me in the infirmary, James and Lily right after him. Lily slapped Sirius, did you know? Hard enough to bruise. He came by later that night to apologize. I saw the real Sirius Black that night. Most people just see the loud, joking side of him. Not many see the vulnerable side of him. Fewer still see the cold rage that he's capable of."

"Have you?"

"Once. The summer before my seventh year. My father...was an abusive drunk. Lily owled James, whose mum owled Dumbledore. He sent James, Sirius, Remus, and Hagrid. Pretty much, they were to do the aurors' dirty work. Remus almost transformed right there. James blew the front door off the hinges. Sirius was beyond enraged. The rage of a Black is something to fear. He just calmly walked in and cast a body-bind on him. Then he started hexing, mixing in cold declarations of disgust and contempt. Hagrid finally had to tell him to stop, or there would be nothing left for the aurors to interrogate." He sighed, closing his eyes again.

"Dad, listen to me. You _have_ to stay awake."

"I know. There's something bad wrong, isn't there. I've thrown up all evening. Started off like a stomach flu, then I started throwing up blood. I got scared, and hoped you'd come."

"I'll always come, Dad. I'll always know when something's wrong. That's why Ron came with me, because I felt like something was really wrong."

It was then that Ron returned with Pomfrey, who immediately knelt beside Severus. "What on earth did you do, Severus?" she asked, while running diagnostic spells. "Mr. Weasley," she shoved a glowing red ball into his hands, "go get Dr. Latham and Mr. Lathem. Their quarters are behind the portrait of Leopold the Lazy. The password is 'Riverbend'. If any of the staff stops you, show them the ball. They know what it means."

Ron nodded, then raced out.

Poppy proceeded to give Severus blood repelenishers, a fever reducer, and a mild pain potion. "Treating the symptoms will maybe keep him stable until they come," she said to Harry. "If anybody can break a new hex, it's those two."

A couple of minutes later, Ron returned with Dale and Everett. Dale and Ron looked very embarrassed. Everett just looked sleepy. Both immediately went to work on breaking the hex.

Finally, nearly an hour later, they had broken the hex. "There," Dale said, "now you can treat the underlying stomach flu. The curse was a type of vessel weakener combined with an immunity curse. If Harry's necklace had not reacted so violently, he'd have likely died of internal bleeding within the next few hours or so. I'll leave the countercurse with you, and send a copy to St. Mungo's later. Ron, Harry, I do _not_ want to see you in any classes today. Get some sleep later."

"I'll cover your classes," Everett said to Severus. "I wouldn't want those young minds to suffer from lack of use."

"Just as long as you don't blow up my classroom again," Severus replied weakly.

"Hey! That wasn't _all_ my fault, and it wasn't anything a few reparo-s wouldn't fix." That got a small smile out of Severus.

"I'll write an excuse for their classes," Poppy said, getting out a fluid replenisher and a stomach settling potion. "Go into that back bedroom, you two, and go to sleep. I'll get Severus situated and we'll straighten things up here." She gave Harry a strangely gentle look. "Your necklace reacted so strongly because you are so emotionally attached to him. You love him deeply, and care a great deal about his well-being." She smiled. "Now scoot."

Harry and Ron got ready to go back to sleep, relieved that it had been something fixable, and in awe of the reality that Harry had likely saved his father's life through his love for him.

"So," Harry asked as he climbed into bed, "what got you and Dale so embarrassed?"

"I walked in on him and Remus snogging." His face was very red.

"Oh." Harry turned out the light.


	17. Chapter 17

**Still not mine.**

AN: I have the CH. 18-20 story arc planned out, it is just taking a great deal of time to write.

It was the beginning of November, and Harry and his friends had settled into a routine. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, they had warding lessons, and for Draco and Harry, muggle Chemistry and Mathematics. Ron hung around for the math part, while Hermione learned advanced Transfiguration and Charms under Dale's watchful eye. Harry also recieved on Mondays the reports from his house contacts, which he, Ron, and Hermione would read and analyze. On Tuesdays, he met with Dumbledore to discuss the reports. On Wednesdays, he would meet with his house contacts as well as a select group of students in each house and discuss any instructions from Dumbledore. Harry, Ron, and Hermione would tutor the group in defense, under Dale's and/or Everett's supervision during the meetings. Despite all of this, Harry was able to keep his grades up as well as to find the time to play quidditch and visit with his father.

It was during one of these visits that Severus' fireplace suddenly flared to life. "Severus?" harry recognized the voice as belonging to Lucius Malfoy, though more anxious and weary than Harry ever remembered him sounding. "Can I come through? I really neeed to speak with you."

Severus indicated to Harry to go into his bedroom. "Don't come out until I tell you," he mouthed. As Harry closed the door, he heard his father say, "Come on through, Lucius. What is going on?"

Harry listened at the door as Severus and Lucius exchanged pleasantries, then he heard his father ask "Okay, now what is going on? I get the impression that this is not a casual visit."

"No, it's not. Severus, you're the only one who can help me with this. You're much closer to, and have more influence over Draco, than I do. You're aware that I only joined the Death Eaters because my...father...made me, and that he passed away Draco's third year, right?"

"Yes. What are you getting at?"

"You know that I never truly wanted to join, but that it was expected of me to join and become one of, if not _the_ best. I do _not_ want Draco to go through that, I want him to be able to choose, but _please_, Severus, use your influence on him to keep him from joining. The Dark Lord is completely mad, you and I both know that. Draco can be so much more than that."

"Lucius, I don't think that you have anything to worry about. Draco knows how crazy the Dark Lord is,and has no desire to sign up for that. Besides that, he has developed a healthy respect for muggle maths and sciences. If the climate here grew too unsafe, he could, with a little help, disappear into the muggle world."

"I hope that it doesn't come to that, but if it had to be done, that would be a good idea."

"Draco is a bright young man who has already formed covert friendships outside of his house. Young Crabbe's Ravenclaw cousin for one."

"Please tell me that one of them is with Potter. He's the key to stopping all of this."

In the bedroom, Harry nearly gasped as Lucius went on to say, "For the love that you held for Lily Evans, and the love that you held for Miss Latham, keep Potter safe. _Don't_ let the Dark Lord muddle around in his head. If you can, teach him all that you know." His voice was getting closer to hysterical.

"Lucius, calm yourself. Yes, one of Draco's covert friendships is with Potter. The two of them get on rather well in private, even working on extracurricular defense and warding work. He's also developed a healthy respect for Granger and Weasley."

"That is the purpose of the detentions, is it not? For Draco to learn additional defense skills as well as muggle math and science?"

"Yes, it is. As I said, Draco has a brilliant mind, and regular classes are too dull to keep his mind occupied. These are practical skills that he will actually use, not nebulous concepts with no real substance."

"Good. Listen, Severus, I know that you are the double agent." Harry and Severus both gasped. "I've known since 1978. I'll never betray you by telling the Dark Lord that one of the ones that he trusts the most will be a part of his downfall." He paused. "Does Draco know?"

"Yes. He also knows a much bigger secret about my past that I cannot disclose to you at his time. It is too personal, and far too dangerous."

"I understand. Cissy's been passing information via coded letters to Andromeda that Eugene Cummings picks up. Andromeda reads them, then Ted picks out the information to pass on to Cummings. How close is he to ousting that idiot Fudge?"

"Quite close. The investigations have so far revealed enough corruption to send him to Azkaban for the next decade at least. Fudge is expected to resign any day, especially since Cummings has most of the departments under his control now."

"Good." He sighed, and was silent for a long time. When he began to speak again, his voice was trembling. "Severus, I know that I am not going to survive this war. I've already set my trust up to where Cissy will recieve a yearly allowance, and a lump sum when, or if, she remarries. The rest is Draco's, though you will hold control of it until he reaches the age of thirty or he marries, whichever is sooner. You will have to approve his choice in bride, since I know that he will not willingly marry Pansy Parkinson, nor do I want him to. _That_ was my father's doing, not mine."

"I know who he has his eye on, and if she at some point returns his affections, I will definitely approve. Her mind is brilliant enough to be a match for his, and she is kind, compassionate, and sees past people's illusions."

"Is it Granger?"

"No, though they have become more friendly due to his alliance with Potter. His interest lies in Potter's female Ravenclaw alliance."

"How far do Potter's alliances stretch?"

"He has male and female contacts in each house that report directly to him. He, in turn, reports to Dumbledore any critical information. He also trains his contacts, plus several others in each house, in defense under the supervision of Dr. and Mr. Latham."

"Good." He sighed, and Harry could picture him suddenly looking very old. "After I leave, I am reporting to Dumbledore. For the first time in my life, I'm going to do the right thing, not what would please my father or make my family name look powerful. Will you tell Draco for me?"

"I will. He will worry, of course, but he will be pleased. Your son loves you a great deal, Lucius."

"Your son must love you as well."

Severus made a squeak of shock. "How did you know?"

"I knew by the time Harry reached his third year. I don't know _how_ he is, but he is. Even if he didn't looke quite a bit like you did at that age, he has your temper, your stubborness, and he rides a broom much more like you than James Potter.'

"Tell no one. his safety and mine depend on it."

"If I've not told anyone by now, Severus, I'm not going to. The only way I was even able to tell was because I know you so well. He really did inherit your smile and your laugh, depsite any glamours. He also holds a wand like you do. They're all little things, but if you add them all together, they point to you somehow." He sighed. "I know that I love my little dragonet. He was my miracle child."

"I remember. The botched sterility hex that you were hit with on a raid."

"Yes. We were lucky to have Draco. We wanted more, but it was not meant to be. Does Draco have any positive male role models besides you? Men who can teach him caring, compassion, and how to do the right thing?"

Severus smiled, and Harry could hear it in his voice. "Yes. His defense teachers, Dale and Everett Latham. Dale is one of the kindest people I have ever met, and Everett uses his sense of humor to hide a heart much bigger than his body."

"Draco owled me and said that they were...cool...was his choice of word. He said that they challenged him, and made him think. That's what he needs, to be challenged. He said that when Everett Latham filled in for you for a few days when you were ill, as a reward on the last two days, he did several muggle Chemistry experiments that were, as Draco put it, fun."

"That is Everett's muggle career, teaching and doing research in Chemisrty. In the wizarding world, he is a Potions Master that I would openly consider my equal, as well as an expert warder. Dale's muggle field is music, and his wizarding fields are as an emergency medic, warding, and dueling."

"I hear that he and the wereworlf Remus Lupin are an item. If so, I am happy for them. That _is_ one advantage of the wizarding world, that we are more accepting of same-sex relationships."

"Yes, they are. Now go on and catch the Headmaster in his office. The password this week is 'Necco wafers'."

"He's _still_ on the muggle candy kick, I see." Lucius left Severus' quarters to find Dumbledore.

"Harry, you can come out now," Severus said.

Cautiously, Harry came out. "Was he being sincere, Dad?"

"Yes. I've known Lucius for well over twenty years, and I know when he is being sincere. You've seen something tonight that not many people see, Harry. Tonight you saw the real Lucius Malfoy, a man who desperately wants to do the right thing, and who loves his son more than life itself." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "What I don't know is why he was so open. Lucius is not a very open person unless he thinks something is going to happen. He runs as big of a risk by not selling me out as I do by spying, since if we are found out, both of our lives are forfeit."


End file.
